inFAMOUS of Us: The Past Lives On
by Dreams of Florence
Summary: Cole reawakens in a gruesome post apocalyptic world in the year 2034. A world that has been torn apart by a deadly outbreak. Humanity is dead, and it may be too late to save it. Though, as he travels across the Americas Cole learns that hope may not exactly be dead.
1. Awake

Chapter 1: Awake

The sounds of screaming and the overwhelming feeling of panic, fear, and confusion.

An all too familiar feeling.

Thousands, no…millions of lives being prematurely ended. Some in one of the worst ways possible. Unimaginable.

But what I couldn't sense was why.

The air around me was changing; strange seeing as I am currently six feet under.

Right?

I've been told that when you die, you get a sense of rising or falling, depending on your behavior beforehand. I was skeptical but I still entertained their ideas. Because no one else would, right?

Activating the RFI, I will admit, it did feel like I was elevating. I felt myself getting higher and higher. Then when that final explosion went off I fell. I slammed into the ground with a force, enough to shatter the normal human body to pieces.

I guess the Big Guy changed his mind. I didn't take any offense. I wasn't exactly a golden boy in my years. Years of crime does outweigh a couple of months of heroics.

Then I felt sorrow in the air. Dozens of people mourning my passing and appreciating my sacrifice.

It stayed that way for a while, and then it was all of a sudden replaced. At the blink of an eye all the sorrow turned to fear, panic, pain, suffering.

Nothing but people running for their lives.

Chaos. Sweet utter chaos.

Abandonment...

Afterwards…

Silence.

Complete and utter silence.

**~I~F~T~L~O~U~**

The peaceful sound of water can be enough to lull anyone to a peaceful slumber. But for Cole it did the opposite. His eyes fluttered opened and found himself next to the seemingly never ending body of water.

He sat up and rubbed his eyes before taking a look around him.

"How did I wind up in the swamps?" He asked himself. It was just one of his questions. More would soon come to follow.

Did Zeke really just unceremoniously dump his body in the swamps? No…he wouldn't. Zeke had too much respect for his brother. _Next question._

Cole stood up to assess his surroundings. When he was in the swamps before, there was usually a tense silence, but this type of silence was an ominous one, something he's never experienced before. He felt like something was waiting, just waiting; watching and waiting.

Cole shook it off and decided to walk around; staying in one place surely wasn't going to help him better understand what was going on.

After some time, he finally made it out of the swamps. And the sight before him made his stomach drop straight to the ground.

New Marais was in shambles.

The buildings were in poor condition; poorer than that of Empire City and cars were scattered everywhere. New Marais had obviously been abandoned. And without the human race, nature took its rightful place. There was overgrown grass, weeds, and moss everywhere it could grow.

Cole didn't want to believe it but there wasn't a shred of life anywhere. The hustle and bustle of New Marais seemed to have ended.

Not even the militia lurked about.

"What the hell happened?" Cole asked. He was certain that the RFI would solve the problems present in New Marais, mainly the Beast, the monsters, the swamp freaks, and the plague, not drive everyone else away.

He continued walking and soon recognized that he was in Ascension Parish. A place where you always had to watch your back or it meant a gun in your head or a knife in your back. As he walked, he felt that wasn't exactly needed, despite the ominous silence.

Eventually he reached the St. Ignatius cemetery. Cole found it slightly more difficult to breathe. There were all these white particles floating in the air. It appeared to be pollen...

_Growl._

Cole turned to his left and found the source of the menacing and deep growl, much to his horror. A vile, fungal creature staggering blindly about. He immediately crouched down, hoping the creature hadn't spotted him. It didn't appear to have eyes, but Cole wasn't about to take his chances.

He began moving back to find a different route around the creature.

When Cole mistakenly stepped on a branch, his already fast beating heart had beat faster.

The creature had spotted him and immediately went on the attack. It reached behind and a bomb full of spores was thrown directly at Cole. He barely managed to move out of the way but upon impact the bomb released a cloud of spores that clouded Cole's vision and filled his throat. When the dust cleared the creature was hobbling towards him.

"How the hell can you see me?" Cole whispered.

Cole climbed on top of a tomb to create some distance. But the creature still continued to attack and threw another spore bomb at him. Luckily Cole had room to dodge and all he had to do was move back.

"Wait, what am I doing?"

Cole raised his arm and took aim. But nothing came out. Not a spark.

"Ah crap." One of two scenarios was possible; he didn't have any more energy to spare or he didn't have his powers at all.

Suddenly switching over to the dire situation at hand, Cole looked up and realized the creature had joined him on top of the tomb.

Cole jumped to another nearby tomb just as the creature threw another spore bomb at him.

He ran and jumped across the tombs. As he jumped across the tombs, Cole's heart had nearly beaten out of his chest. One became two, then two became four, then four become ten. They were everywhere and anywhere.

The first one he had encountered luckily wasn't persistent and gave up in its pursuit and had not alerted the rest. Cole took a few seconds to breathe and gather his bearings.

"Well you all obviously can't see but it seems like you're attracted to noise." Cole mused to himself.

Whatever these things were, this was obviously a mating ground of sorts for them, or however the hell they reproduced.

As silently as possible, Cole jumped on top of the walls of cemetery. The creatures were none the wiser and continued to roam about, occasionally letting out menacing low and deep growls.

"Jesus that's terrifying." Cole said as he jumped off the wall to the ground.

The day had soon become night and Cole found himself in Smut Triangle. Or what was left of it. What was once bright and lively, was now grey and dead. There was debris everywhere and the ground was cracked. It was dark, the only source of light coming from the full moon in the sky.

He continued to walk around but his senses were on high alert. What if there were more of those creatures walking about? In his powerless and defenseless state he could not chance another encounter with one of those things.

He ultimately decided that it would be best to find a place to settle down for the night. But the question was, where?

He eventually found an old building, one he recognized to be the Bloody Mary. The door had been broken down and tossed to the side. He made his way inside, watching his footing the best that he could in case one of those creatures was in here. A foul smell had also hit him with a force.

In the dimness of the moonlight, he managed find a flashlight.

"Please work." He flipped the switch and to his surprise, the flashlight shined brightly.

Revealing a disheartening sight.

Cole finally realized what was making the horrible smell. There were dozens of decaying bodies and what threw Cole fully over the edge was that some of them were fresh.

"Well staying in here is obviously out."

_Click-click-click-click_

Cole immediately froze. "What. Was that." Cole turned around and found two creatures, similar to the ones he encountered earlier, but the fungus had only surrounded their heads; their bodies appeared to be human.

Sort of.

Cole immediately crouched down and shut off his flashlight. The creatures hobbled in his direction and Cole pressed himself as close to the wall as possible to get out of their "sight". Taking a chance, he turned his flashlight back on, kept a close eye on anything that could make a sharp noise, and slowly made his way out.

The creatures did not acknowledge his presence and continued hobbling towards the decaying bodies. They crouched down and began feasting on the decaying bodies.

"Oh man." Cole whispered. Once he was out, he ran. He _really_ needed to find a place to settle down for the night.

Soon enough, Cole encountered another building that was familiar to him, but mainly for what was on top of the building.

He turned his flashlight off, tucked it into his back pocket and began to climb. He finally made it to the top and found barbed wire had laced the edge of the building. In the dimness of the moonlight, he spotted an area where the barbed wire was parted, leaving a wide enough gap for someone to enter through.

Once Cole was safely on the rooftop, he reached around and grabbed his flashlight to look around. Everything was about the same; save for numerous cans of food, multiple rounds of ammunition, and various melee weapons.

"Hands where I can see them." Cole heard behind him. The demand was followed by the cock of a gun. "And no funny shit either."

Cole raised his hands, complying with the demands. "I don't want any trouble, I'm just passing through."

"On your knees." The voice demanded once. Cole complied and swiftly dropped to his knees.

The man walked towards Cole and began searching him. "You infected?"

"What do you mean infected?"

"Don't play dumb with me." The man pointed his gun at Cole's head once more, letting the cool barrel make contact with the back of his head.

"Alright, alright. Um no, I guess not."

"You ain't got shit on you either. Who are yo-" The man's question was caught off when he faced Cole.

"Cole?"

Cole looked at the man's face, and despite a few noticeable changes, he realized immediately who it was.

"Depends who's asking." Cole responded with a smile.

"Mr. Dunbar's asking."

Zeke grabbed Cole's hands and pulled him to his feet, then into a hug.

"What the hell are you doing here? Where've you been?" Zeke asked.

"Beats me. I'm activating the RFI then all of a sudden I'm waking up in the swamps."

"Oh jeez, that's where you wound up? I knew I should have looked there again."

"Come again?"

"I was taking your body out to sea when a strong lightning bolt struck the boat and caused it to capsize. I barely managed to return to shore. Your coffin washed ashore but your body wasn't in there. Your phone wound up washing ashore too but still no sign of you. I looked everywhere but I couldn't find you. It really tore me up when I couldn't find you." Zeke said somberly. "You must have washed ashore after I gave up."

"Well that answers one of my questions."

"I suspected that you would have more. But first how about we get you settled down and get some food in you. I've got a lot to tell you brother and I'm assuming you the same."

**~I~F~L~O~U~**

Zeke led Cole into his hideout. It was a one bedroom apartment. Zeke instructed that he make himself at home so Cole took a seat on the couch. Zeke had also placed a blanket on his shoulders and handed him a bowl of reheated soup. It was an abnormally cold October night in New Marais.

"So you don't have your powers?"

"I don't know." Cole responded while taking a spoon full of soup. "Is there anywhere I can possibly charge up or something?"

"We haven't had electricity in long time brother. Electricity is the least of our worries these days."

"Zeke, man. What in the hell happened here?"

"Brother…man it all went to shit about two years after your death. There was a huge outbreak and it spread fast. In just a day, thousands were either dead or infected."

"What was this thing? Does it somehow connect to those monstrosities I saw earlier?"

"Depends, what did you see?" Zeke asked.

"At the St. Ignatius cemetery I saw this beast, completely surrounded in fungus. As I tried to escape, I found at least a dozen more."

"Bloaters." Zeke whispered.

"What now?" Cole asked.

"I'll explain once you're done. Continue on."

"Alright. So the one I encountered initially, I thought it didn't see me but then I must have set it off somehow and started throwing these bombs at me."

Zeke's eyes widened. "Hang tight man." Zeke got up and walked into the kitchen of his hideout. He brought back a scanner and stood behind Cole. He placed the scanner at Cole's head. The light on the scanner remained green.

"Well this doesn't say you've been infected. How long has it been since you encountered the bloater?"

"Probably a couple of hours."

"Hmm, I'll check again tomorrow. Anyway, got any more to tell?"

"Yeah, when I was at the Bloody Mary, I encountered to more of those fungus creatures, but the fungus was mainly on their heads. They made this weird clicker sound."

Zeke sighed. "Clickers."

"Clickers?" Cole asked again.

"If you ain't got more to tell, then I suppose it's my turn." Zeke said. "Like I said, about two years after your passing there was this outbreak; an infection if you will. It's been said that it came from some sort of tainted food but I'm not sure. It's called the Cordyceps Brain Infection or CBI."

"It's a parasitic fungus, which explains all the fungus that you see. It attacks the brain and makes you go insane. And with that, you lose your humanity. The infection consists of four stages; first you're a runner, then a stalker, a clicker, then finally a bloater. Well five, if you include death."

Cole's eyes widened. "So what I saw. The bloaters? The clickers?"

"All used to be people."

"Shit." Cole whispered.

"The infection is either spread by being bitten or breathing in the spores. In time, 60% of the population was either infected or dead. The rest of us do what we can do survive. By any means necessary."

Cole looked intently at Zeke and noticed faint presence of scars on his face and arms. Zeke has been through hell and back and it looked to be a daily trip. But along with that he noticed that Zeke had aged. A lot.

"Zeke how long has it been?" Cole asked.

"Counting from when you died? It's nothing short of 23 years."

* * *

*********I was formerly Lightning's Creed and now I am Dreams of Florence.*** =)**

***23 years: Assuming the ending of inFAMOUS 2 took place in 2011. The Last of Us starts in 2013 at the end of the game it's 2034. ****And since the age of Cole & Zeke during the inFAMOUS series is said to be in the range of 20-23, I chose 22 for both of them.**

***Bloody Mary: The name of a bar in New Marais.**

**So a The Last of Us and inFAMOUS crossover? Lord have mercy, I just finished this game and I'm already dishing out major fan fiction. XD**

**Happy New Year and here's to a prosperous 2014 =)**

**Thanks for reading! Tell me what you think =D**


	2. Chance for Escape

Chapter 2: Chance for Escape

"You're shitting me." Cole said incredulously.

"I've been keeping track of the dates. See for yourself." Zeke pointed to a stack of papers on the table in front of them. He flipped through them and saw pages of dates, months, and years. When he was done, he looked at the top of very first page with the most recent date on it.

October 2nd, 2034.

Cole fell back in his couch. He just couldn't believe it. It has been 23 years.

He and Zeke were 45 years old.

"You look like you've been through a lot."

"Ain't that the truth?" Zeke responded with a laugh. "Every day is different. You never know what each day would bring you; whether it is an encounter with the infected, the hunters, or the military. Hell sometimes all three in the same day. Luckily, I didn't meet any of them today. But here I am finding you after two decades and three."

"I wonder how my ass didn't decompose away." Cole asked.

"Now that there, is a damn good question. But we'll go nuts trying to figure it out another time. You look like you deserve some rest brother."

"I've been asleep for 23 years Zeke." Cole said half laughing.

"Being dead can take a lot out of you. Besides we have a big day tomorrow. You need all the rest you can get."

"Big day? What's this about?"

"You'll find out." Zeke said with a smile. "Now how about you take the bed and I take the sofa."

"You sure?"

"I insist brother. Oh and tomorrow I'm going to give you a new set of clothes. That outfit is so 23 years ago."

Cole laughed and punched Zeke's shoulder playfully. "Alright, night Z."

"Night Cole."

Cole made his way over to the bedroom and dropped himself on Zeke's comfortable bed. He fell asleep instantly.

Zeke had made his way back to the rooftop to finish what he planned to do earlier. He took all his food, ammunition, and weapons into his hideout. He made sure the door was locked and the windows secure. He grabbed a blanket and pillow and set them up on the sofa. He placed his trusty magnum revolver under his pillow and an assault rifle near the bottom of the sofa. He won't let a repeat of what happened last week, happen again. Within minutes of lying on the sofa, Zeke was sound asleep.

**~I~F~T~L~O~U~**

Zeke awoke and looked at his wristwatch and saw that it was a little after ten in the morning. He stood up stretched, and then went over to a closet. He pulled out a dark green faded jacket, grey undershirt, black jeans, and sneakers.

He made his way to his bedroom and found Cole awake and reading a book.

"Morning there." Zeke said.

"Same to you. So what's the plan for today?"

"Well first, go on and freshen yourself up; 23 years of being dead didn't do you any wonders. Smelled you from the living room."

Cole smirked and rolled his eyes. "Anyway, here's your change of clothes, I'll go get started on breakfast." Zeke made quotations around the word breakfast.

"Let me guess; leftover soup?" Cole joked.

"You take what you can get man."

After some time, Cole emerged in his new clothes, leaving his old clothes in the hamper that was in the bathroom. Cole took a whiff of his clothes and realized that Zeke may have had a point.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he burned these." Cole joked to himself. Cole readjusted his jacket and pants and made his way to the living room. The clothes were a bit of a loose fit, but it wouldn't be a burden.

He took a seat of the couch across from Zeke and began digging in.

"So the agenda for today is…we're getting the hell out of this place."

"No kidding?" Cole responded. "Where to?"

"I've got a buddy in Jackson County. He and his wife are in charge of a great place to live. Away from all this shit. A second chance."

"How far is it?"

"Wyoming. It's not close, but I've gone from Massachusetts and back, and that trip is twice as long. Done it multiple times as a matter of fact."

"How do you know this isn't some sort of trap?"

"I've been there once, couldn't stick around because I had some uh, business to tend to in Idaho. But the guy, Tommy, told me that there's a place waiting for me should I ever return. Figured it would be time to take him up on his offer."

Cole nodded his head; doesn't sound like a bad idea at all.

"So what's the plan?" Cole asked, finishing off his bowl of soup.

"New Marais used to be a quarantine zone, but it was quickly abandoned on the count of the infection reaching us and hitting us especially hard. So because of the high amount of infected, the military had set up blockades all around New Marais to prevent anyone from entering. But subsequently, those who aren't infected, like me and you, are trapped here too."

"I figure we sneak up on them, commandeer one of their boats and shove off. The easiest route I came up with is," Zeke pulls out a map. "We ride to Texas, go through New Mexico, Colorado, and then we hit Wyoming. Home sweet home."

"But I'm guessing this won't be just a walk in the park?"

"Nothing ever is this day and age. The boat we're looking for is all the way in Flood Town. We may encounter one of three things; more military goons, hunters, or infected. Hell maybe even all three if we're lucky."

"Delightful."

"I have a contact/ally in the military who told me the patrols are a lot weaker today. He'll radio in any updates; he's got the boat waiting for us."

"Can we trust this guy?" Cole asked skeptically.

"Don't worry; he won't be double crossing me again."

"Again?"

"Alright then, let's gear up. Follow me." Zeke went into the kitchen and pulled out a 9 mm pistol and loaded it with some ammunition. "You still know how to use one of these?" He tossed the gun at Cole. Cole caught it and studied it.

"Seeing as your powers are pretty dud, there should be no concern. And don't worry if you feel rusty, you'll get plenty of practice, trust me."

"You never forget to shoot a gun." Cole spoke with a smile.

"Here's your bag, I packed in the essentials like med kits, rubbing alcohol, rags, and shivs. Up to you if you want to add some explosives. I have a room dedicated to this stuff; I'll show it to you in a bit. I also added in some holders for any rifles you may find. I would have one for you now but some idiots broke in here last week and took my best hunting rifle and shotguns."

Cole nodded, highly impressed on how Zeke carried himself well.

"I've added some upgrades to that pistol. Instant reload, maximum clip capacity, and fires like lightning. Here's the holder for that." Zeke handed him a holder for the pistol and Cole secured it around his waist.

"And the piece de resistance, I've upgraded the amp. I know it may seem useless now that you don't have your powers, but still good for bashing someone's head in."

Cole took the amp and studied it. It now had a third prong, like a trident. "Ho-ho, this'll do. Yeah this'll do just fine."

"Durable and tough too. Got me out of a sticky situation I had with a bloater and those things are hard to kill. Even with gun power."

"Alright, we're all set; follow me to the explosives hold." Zeke led Cole to a walk in closet that was in the hallway.

"I highly recommend the Molotov cocktails there. Nail bombs are great too, but be wary. These things will tear up everything and anything in range so watch yourself when you use them. Smoke bombs definitely come in handy for those stickier situations. Take your choice. When we gather up more supplies, I'll give you the recipes for them."

Cole took four Molotov cocktails, three nail bombs, and three smoke bombs. He placed them into his bag. He placed extra ammunition on the outside pockets of his bag. He made sure the amp was secure in its holder, and then placed the bag back over his shoulder.

"Hey, before we get going, quick question. Do you still have that extra sensory ability of yours?" Zeke asked.

Cole closed his eyes and focused his energy. He sent out an invisible wave and everything in around him was illuminated, and every sound was amplified tenfold.

Cole's eyes went wide as a cacophony of clicking, groaning, growling pounded against his ear drums.

"What's wrong?"

"Infected. A lot of infected."

Zeke's eyes grew wide and he ran over to the window. Cole's words held true. Every type of infected ranging from runners to bloaters had littered the streets. "God damn it they're all over the streets! Why are all of them on the streets all of a sudden?"

Realization had struck Cole. "When I was at the Bloody Mary, there were a bunch of dead bodies there. Some of them were still fresh and it attracted two clickers."

"Shit head hunters. They've been trying to flush me out for years. Charlie's got a bone to pick with me."

"Who the hell is Charlie? Sounds like a punk." Cole asked.

"In every definition of the word." Zeke replied. "Look we don't have enough ammo to take them on so we have to take an alternate route; one you're familiar with."

"Which is?"

"The rooftops my brother." Zeke responded with a smile.

"Alright then, let's go."

Zeke ran to the door and opened it, only to be greeted by a runner who was running up the stairs.

"Holy-!"

Cole immediately pulled out his gun and shot the runner right between his eyes, killing him. The sound of gun fire had immediately alerted several of the infected that were in the building.

"Run!"

Cole and Zeke ran up the flight of stairs with the infected on their heels. They busted through the door that led them to the rooftop and closed the door behind them, moving a nearby sofa in front of it to prevent anymore infected from following them. They banged at the door, desperately trying to break it down.

"Well it's safe to say I won't be coming back here." Zeke spoke.

"Shh-shh." Cole pointed to a clicker that was hunched over not too far from them.

"How the hell? Do these things climb now?"

"Not important Z." Cole whispered.

"Cole this is a seven story building!" Zeke forgetting that a clicker was in the vicinity, immediately placed his hands over his mouth.

The clicker clicked loudly at the sound of Zeke's outburst but seemed to have brushed it off.

"Okay, lead the way." Cole whispered. Zeke nodded and gestured that they go to the building to the left of them.

They continued to run and jump across the buildings and as soon as they were sure that the streets were cleared of any infected or hunters, they made their way down and continued on foot.

"Picking up on anything?" Zeke asked.

"Nah man. We're in the clear."

"Alright, here we are, Flood Town." Zeke announced.

Flood Town still held true to its name, except the water levels were significantly higher now.

"You good with swimming?" Zeke asked. "I can find some sort of platform if you'd like."

"I think I can handle it." Cole walked slowly into the water and upon not feeling any violent reaction, he waded comfortably through the water. "Come on in, the water's great."

"Now see 23 years ago, I would think there'd be something wrong with you if those words flew out of your mouth." Zeke joked. "I still can't get over on how much you freaked out when we got a little rain. You were clinging to me like a cub to its momma."

Cole laughed. "Times change Z."

"Indeed they do." Zeke stepped into the water and swam, Cole following behind him. "The boats are on the other side of Flood Town. It won't be a straight swim seeing as there will be debris. You down for that?"

"Yeah I'm down."

"Alright, let's haul ass."

The two of them swam across Flood Town taking breaks whenever they appeared. They were just about halfway there.

"Did they find this ass hole yet?" Cole heard a nearby voice speak out. Cole immediately gestured for them to dive under and swim over to take cover behind a car. Cole listened in on the conversation while Zeke kept watch of their surroundings.

"Not yet. Though Chris said he spotted him with some other guy making their way over here."

"Tch, idiot. We'll get him."

"Hunters?" Cole asked. Zeke nodded.

"Y'know I saw that boat of the military's. I almost tasted it."

The other hunter scrunched up his face in confusion and slight disgust. "Define almost and "it"."

"Almost in the sense that I tasted the chance to get out of this hell hole. "It" being freedom"

"What are you on about? This whole continent is a hell hole."

"Heard Wyoming's nice."

The other man scoffed. "Keep living in your dream world boy. Whatever helps you escape from this reality."

Zeke tapped Cole's shoulder and pointed to a nearby hunter to their right. They dived under water and Cole kept his senses high to make sure there would not be any hunters where they would resurface.

The hunters all seemed to be condensed in one area as Cole did not sense their presence anymore. But there was still quite a bit of them and they are all well armed.

Cole and Zeke finally made it to the other side of Flood Town and stood a couple of yards away to avoid detection. They spotted the military post.

But no boat.

"Fucking hell. Zeke muttered. He reached into his bag and pulled out his radio.

"What the fuck Roger…pulling this shit again?" Zeke said in a menacing tone that even frightened Cole.

"Zeke I've been trying to contact you. Listen, we got ambushed by a bunch of hunters trying to take the boat. They were unsuccessful but I've been ordered to move the boat to an area that was void of any hunters."

"And that place would be…?"

"Off the coast of the Gas Works." Roger replied.

Zeke audibly groaned. "You think that you could have told me this oh I don't know BEFORE we made the trip here all the way from Smut Triangle?"

"I'm sorry Zeke, radio communication had become jammed. I just managed to make it through now."

"Roger, I swear to you if this is another one of your tricks I won't just stop at tearing you a new one, you hear?"

Cole could hear Roger audibly gulping before responding. "S-scout's honor Zeke."

"Alright." Zeke put the radio back into his bag and rubbed his stubble before sighing.

"What's up?" Cole asked.

"The Gas Works. Of fucking course it's in the fucking Gas Works."

"Something tells me the Gas Works isn't exactly a heavenly place." Cole spoke, slightly taken aback by Zeke's language.

"My brother." Zeke began. "If you thought the streets of Smut Triangle and St. Ignatius cemetery were bad then I've got some bad news for you."

* * *

**I read, though I forgot where, when The Last of Us ended, it was somewhere in April 2034. If that's inaccurate then just Spring 2034. Whatever works xD. Either way, this story picks up after that.**

**Thanks for reading! Please review =)**


	3. Through the Gas Works

Chapter 3: Through the Gas Works

Cole and Zeke had relocated to the rail yard which was void of any hunters, military soldiers, or infected.

"Like the St. Ignatius cemetery, the Gas Works has become a breeding ground for the infected. Properly named No Man's Land." Zeke spoke. "This is a suicide mission." Then he laughed bitterly. "But then again, everything is."

"So what's the verdict then? Do we stay here and wait for another opportunity to come around?" Cole asked, while swallowing some guilt. If he still had his powers, this would be no problem for them.

"I've been waiting for years for an opportunity like this. When I went to Wyoming for the first time, I didn't want to leave. I had to because my boss would have physically chewed my ear off for bailing on him. The people I worked with weren't exactly people you wanted to cross and leaving wasn't exactly simple."

Cole immediately put it together. "The reason why Charlie is on your ass, is because you got up and said "to hell with this I'm out."? Am I in the ball park?"

"A home run, brother." Zeke responded. "I was foolish and I didn't think it all the way through. I thought that I would be able to just gather my stuff and slip out but the military proved me wrong and nearly turned me into Swiss cheese because of it. Word spread fast and I've been on the lamb ever since."

"How long they been hounding you?" Cole asked.

"Pushing about ten years now."

"Damn." Cole muttered. He had a new found respect for him now. In Empire City, Zeke was arguably almost as useless as the government. But as the days went by, Zeke tried to be more of use. It was a trial and error period, but mainly error. Once they got to New Marais, he turned it all around. Cole may not have figured out certain situations on his own if it weren't for Zeke.

But now, Zeke seemed to have been transformed into a hardened survivor. Holding his own for 23 years. On top of dealing with the infected, he had to deal with the hunters' whose number one goal was to have his head on a platter.

"Been to the Gas Works once. Once. Just narrowly managed to escape unscathed".

"What happened?"

"It's amazing what these things can do." Zeke began. "I was traveling with a group of about fifteen that had the same idea I did. Find a way out."

"We started in Flood Town. Someone in our group owned a large boat that would be able to hold all of us. Back then, military patrols were just about non-existent, not as tight as they are now. The plan was to ride to Texas, survive the journey and reach Wyoming in one piece."

"When we got to around the Ice tower, which is surprisingly still frozen by the way, it was a massacre. Runners, stalkers, clickers, and bloaters; the whole shebang. Despite being the weakest of the four, the Runners detected any uninfected in the blink of an eye. Classic chain reaction, everyone else started coming after us." Zeke's voice caught in his throat.

"We tried to fight them off but we were severely outnumbered. It was a flat out bloodbath. Men, women…children. No one was spared." Zeke's hand subconsciously went to his neck. He rubbed the pendants on his necklace, before clearing his throat.

"After that plan went to shit, I hauled my ass out of there back to where we are now. From that point, I realized my situation and knew that I had to shape up. If I wanted to survive in the dog eat dog world, I needed to get my shit together. I needed to keep going. " "_For Andrea, for Andrew_."

Cole didn't catch his whisper at the end.

"So, if we want out. We got to keep going. We just have to watch ourselves, and we'll be okay."

Cole nodded, feeling an overwhelming sense of pride for his friend.

"Let's scour this area for any supplies. If you can, find as many as glass bottles and bricks as you can. They can be of much use over there."

**~I~F~T~L~O~U~**

Cole entered a warehouse and found a wide range of supplies and weaponry. He found a hunting rifle with an impressive amount of ammunition. Remembering Zeke's request, he found five glass bottles along with two bricks. He also found a med kit and extra ammunition for his pistol.

He also found a note partially covered in blood.

_I don't have much time, so I will make this brief._

_Whoever finds these supplies, use them to your heart's content and in my honor. This is a rare rifle that can hold fourteen rounds of ammo instead of the usual six. Reload speed is quick and easy, good when in relatively rough situations. Taking that mechanics class did not fail me._

_The scope will allow you to surprise your enemies even from many yards away. But be cautious as the laser can easily give away your position._

___I'm done with this life, on to the next._

_God speed._

_~Ethan._

Cole tucked the note into his bag for future reference.

He exited the warehouse and found Zeke feeling out a shotgun he had found.

"Well it looks like we both got lucky. And damn! You've got a good one there. I've only seen one other like it." Zeke praised.

"Really?" Cole asked. "From who?" He placed the rifle in the holder Zeke had fashioned for him.

"This guy Ethan. I don't know how but he managed to make that rifle hold fourteen rounds of ammo. Guy was unstoppable with that thing. I wonder what happened to him." Zeke spoke.

Cole's face immediately paled. He considered pulling out the note but changed his mind. "I'm sure he's around."

"I managed to gather up some extra supplies. When we get out of here, I show you the life saving process of crafting."

It was a good six hour straight walk from Flood Town's Rail yard to the Gas Works. They managed to avoid conflict with infected, hunters, and military soldiers alike.

Along the way, the pair had caught up. Well it was mainly Cole listening to Zeke tell his survivor stories.

It was then Cole really took in of how much Zeke's appearance had really changed. He had a full and but groomed beard adorning his face, a noticeable scar that ran across his cheek to his right ear and his usual sleeked back hair had been cut short, just slightly sticking out in the front.

Like Cole, he wore a faded dark green jacket, but with a black undershirt, army patterned pants, and black boots.

All those years of surviving had certainly kept Zeke in shape. He was thinner, but had a lot more muscle to him.

And yet the one thing that hasn't changed? Those trademark sunglasses of his.

Zeke took note of how much Cole had changed, even his 23 years of dormancy. The light stubble beard he had had also grown in,but was still quite faint. The scar he had on his right cheek had completely healed.

Somehow in his sleeping state, it would appear that Cole had gained some muscle mass as well. Cole joked that all those years of wearing sunglasses were beginning to affect his vision. How could one gain muscle in their sleep?

"It'd be a god damn medical breakthrough if you figured that out 23 years ago. Obesity would have been a thing of the past." Cole laughed.

"I know mine is." Zeke laughed while patting his stomach.

It was nightfall when they finally arrived at the Gas Works. It was next to pitch black without the moon's light.

"You got a working flashlight on you?"

"Yep." Cole reached around and pulled out his flash light. As soon as they turned them on, they found a runner hunched over in front of them, groaning to himself.

Cole immediately crouched down and turned off his flash light.

"It's alright." Zeke whispered. "Because the fungus messes with their eyes, they don't react to well or at all to the presence of light. As long as we keep our distance and keep the noise down, we'll be fine."

Cole nodded his head and turned his flash light back on.

"You got the right idea though. Laying low is the best way. Keep your eyes and ears peeled. Like I said these things are everywhere and we got a long way to go." Zeke spoke while crouching down.

The sounds of moaning, groaning, clicking, and growling kept the air tense. Turning every corner was nerve wracking. Not knowing when you would encounter the next one was enough to keep the human heart on overdrive.

"I hate dealing with these fuckers at night." Zeke muttered.

It wasn't until Zeke and Cole turned one specific corner into an alleyway that they ran into a slight problem.

Two runners were in their way, their backs turned to them, moaning and groaning to themselves. There was no alternative way around them and going back to find another place was not an option. The pair had barely managed to maneuver around a group of five bloaters.

"I'll get the one on the left; you get the one on the right. Up to you if you want to choke him out or stab him." Zeke whispered.

Cole opted for choking the runner out. He walked slowly behind it and wrapped his arms around tightly around its neck. After a brief struggle, the runner had gone limp and easily fell to the ground. Cole had looked over just in time to find Zeke plunging his shiv deep into the runner's neck. The gruesome sight had caused Cole to involuntarily flinch.

_All of them used to be people..._

Afterwards, it was just a straight shot to the Ice tower. Their final destination before they reached the boat. The two of them took cover behind a car to plan.

"Alright, keep those bottles and bricks handy." Zeke instructed.

"What's the plan?"

"The boat is straight ahead. To progress, we need to lure all of them away to clear a path. Move quickly but silently. Take cover whenever possible, even if it ain't necessary. Better safe than dinner."

Cole nodded in understanding and used his radar pulse to get a better understanding of the situation.

Cole couldn't help but chuckle. "Oh this plan sucks."

"Short notice man." Zeke responded with a smile. "Let's do it. I'm going to draw this first batch towards the alley way. Then grab your nut sack and make a break for it."

Zeke stood up from the cover and had to resist crying out as a clicker just passed by in front of them.

"Jesus." He shook his head and took aim at the wall of an alleyway. Once the sound of glass break filled the air, all the infected cried out in harmony and began moving to investigate. Zeke signaled at Cole to move.

They were across from the alleyway full of infected and took cover behind another car. Cole threw a bottle at the wall that was further down for good measure; to ensure that the infected would stay there as they moved. They also had to move very carefully and quickly because they had caught the attention of two bloaters that were behind them.

They had reached the Ice tower and the area was full of stalkers, running back and forth, screeching and screaming at God knows what.

Zeke explained that Stalkers were essentially the ninjas of the infected. They could spot any uninfected from yards away. Stalkers also moved very quickly and were skilled in the area of scaring the shit out of anyone. He instructed Cole to continuously use his radar pulse to make sure that none of them would be coming out of nowhere.

"Zeke, this is starting to hurt." Cole normally does not use his radar pulse for a prolonged amount of time. He usually just used it to find the nearest source of electricity, blast shards, or dead drops. Sometimes to indicate where his enemies are and who they were.

"Sorry, sorry. Just hold on." Zeke was looking around frantically trying to find a way around the stalkers. Distracting them had a very probability of back firing. Taking them head on was not an option but was stilled ruled as an absolute last resort.

"Zeke!" Cole whispered.

"Okay, okay. Um let's climb the ice tower to get a batter vantage point."

Cole exhaled loudly and rubbed his temple to soothe his throbbing head ache. They slowly made their way around the ice tower to the ladder. They climbed up and crouched behind a railing that would mask their presence but not for long.

"Any ideas?" Cole asked.

"Nothing yet. Stalkers are a tricky bunch to maneuver around." Zeke responded while looking around them for some sort of answer.

Shutting out the pain caused by his throbbing head ache, Cole activated his radar pulse once more to try to find a hint out of his predicament.

"The building behind us is in pretty good condition and so do the other buildings near it."

"You do say?" Zeke pointed his flashlight to the building Cole was indicating. The building had partially crumbled but the rooftop appeared to be stable, more or less.

"Alright, I'll follow your lead."

Cole crouched walked to the building behind the railings to get in front of the building. Cole climbed on top of the railing stood on it with little to no effort. There was quite a bit of distance between him but the building and the railing he was standing on were about level. He jumped forward, grabbed firmly onto the edge of the roof and pulled himself up.

"Still got it." Cole whispered with a smile.

"Nice one brother! Not sure I'll be able to replicate that though. I'm still not a seasoned urban explorer like you are."

"Let me see if I can find something that you can cross on. You practice standing on that railing in the mean time." Cole responded.

"Yes sir."

Cole looked around the rooftops and found a plank. It wasn't too thin but it wasn't too wide either.

"Hey Z? Think you'll be able to handle this?" Cole turned around and presented the plank to Zeke. His eyes widened when he found Zeke had managed to balance himself on the railing. He was still a bit wobbly, but he was managing much better than he had anticipated.

"It'll have to do. Send it here."

Cole lifted up the plank and then laid it over the edge of the roof top. He pushed it until it reached the railing.

"Take your time." Cole instructed.

"I got it."

After about a minute or so Zeke made it safely across the plank and to the rooftop. He gave Cole a high five once he made it.

"We're still pretty agile for a couple of old geezers." Zeke laughed.

An abstract noise next to them had alerted the stalkers. The simultaneous screech that had echoed through the air was enough to send chills up and down both Zeke's and Cole's spines.

"Oh man." Cole whispered.

Zeke looked over at where they just were to find a stalker…

Climbing up the ladder…

"What the f-"

Cole quickly placed his hand over Zeke's to stifle his outburst.

This was getting strange.

A clicker had climbed onto the rooftop, looking around furiously for its prey.

What the hell was going on?

Once he was sure Zeke would not make any more outbursts, he removed his hand from his mouth.

"Get down." Cole whispered. "Okay this plan went down the shit hole fast. What now?"

"I don't know I've never seen the urban explorer species of the infected." Zeke responded. "How's it looking down there?"

Cole activated his radar pulse. "If we continue on to the next building and drop down there are less infected on the streets. We just have to sneak around them.

"We'll have to take it. Sit tight, I'll take care of this one." Zeke crouch walks to the clicker and stays still to time it right. Once the clicker has his back to him, he grabs it and plants his shiv into the clicker's neck, killing it, and subsequently breaking the shiv.

"Jesus Zeke." Cole whispered.

"Come on, we're clear. We can make our way down with this fire escape here."

The two of them made their down and stayed as close to the buildings as possible. The infected mainly roamed in the middle of streets rather than the sidewalks.

"There she is." Zeke pointed to the boat that was just a few feet away from them. They were approaching an alleyway.

Just as a bloater was making its way out.

Zeke and the bloater had collided into each other. The bloater immediately grabbed Zeke's face placed its hands into his mouth, and began to pull.

Cole, without thinking it through, ran and tackled the bloater to the ground. The bloater had managed to overpower him forcing Cole onto his back. The bloater was without a doubt looking to bite him but Cole used all of his strength to prevent that from happening. Unfortunately the bloater was just that much stronger than him.

"Damn it!" Cole exclaimed through his strained voice. He was losing the struggle.

The only melee weapon that could bring a bloater down was Cole's amp and it just had to be completely out of reach.

Bullets, even from a shot gun, wouldn't be strong enough either.

Zeke picked up a nearby baseball bat. It wasn't enough but it would have to do for now. He stepped back and with as much strength as he could muster, he swung at the bloater's head. The bat broke and the bloater fell to the side, but wasn't dead yet.

It stood up and turned its attention to Zeke.

"Bring it on you ugly son of a bitch." Zeke raised his shotgun.

Cole, remembering the technique Zeke had taught him, took out his amp. He firmly gripped the middle of the amp and placed his palm at the bottom. He reeled back as far as he could and plunged the prongs of the amp into the bloater's head. The prongs had gone straight through the bloater's head and killed it instantly.

Once the bloater laid flat on the ground, Cole used his foot to pull his amp out of the bloater's head.

"Ugh grody…" Cole muttered, noticing the blood and the fungus that still stuck to the amp.

"Now that's how you do it." Zeke praised.

Cole smiled but once he looked behind Zeke and spotted a runner glaring right at them, his smile immediately dropped.

"We gotta go!" Cole exclaimed.

Zeke looked behind him and saw the runner and several other infected coming towards them.

The both of them broke out into a full on sprint.

Cole looked behind him and saw the infected were quickly catching up to them. He pulled out his pistol and began to shoot at them. With impressive accuracy, Cole managed to hit a total of ten runners, clickers, and stalkers in the head, killing them instantly.

"Save your ammo brother, we're just about there!" Zeke exclaimed.

Once they reached the dock, the immediately jumped onto the boat. Zeke ran to the control room while Cole stayed behind on the deck.

Zeke burst into the control room and found Roger sound asleep.

"Roger, get your ass up! We got to motor and I mean that in every literal sense in the English language." Zeke exclaimed.

Roger was startled out of his peaceful slumber and nearly fell out of his chair.

"Come on!" Cole exclaimed. He had his rifle out, shooting at the infected who were trying to get onto the boat.

"Don't let them on!" Roger said as he went to try to start the boat. Zeke ran over with his shotgun to aid Cole.

Cole reached into his bag and pulled out a nail bomb. "Here goes nothing." He tossed it at the hoard of the infected and the nail bomb exploded once it made contact with one of the infected. As promised by Zeke, the nail bomb shred up and burned everything in sight.

Except of course the bloater.

"One more Molotov cocktail should do the trick." Zeke said. He reached into his bag, pulled out a Molotov, and lit it up. Cole did the same.

"One is fun, but two is a blast." Cole joked.

"Good to see you're still a mad genius Cole." Zeke laughed.

They both threw their Molotov cocktails at the bloater but at the same time, the bloater had thrown a spore bomb directly at them. Zeke had barely managed to get out of the way but the bomb had hit Cole directly in the ribs.

Cole was surrounded in the dense clouds of spore throwing him into a violent coughing fit.

Roger who had peered out of the control room saw everything and scrambled to get his ground out of his bag.

His search was interrupted by a direct, yet indirect bullet that was fired right at him.

"Zeke! What the hell man? He's infected!"

"Start the boat Roger."

"But-"

"Roger I swear if you do anything other than start that boat I will use your sorry ass and legs as a rowboat!" Zeke barked.

Roger immediately scrambled to the boat's controls and soon had the boat speeding away from the new group infected that had begun to pursue them.

Once the cloud of spores had cleared up completely, Zeke walked over to Cole and knelt down beside him to check on him.

"You alright brother?" Zeke asked.

Cole was still coughing violently, rendering him unable to answer.

Zeke took off his bag, reached in and pulled out a bottle of water; a rare commodity.

He opened it and guided Cole to drink from it.

"Oh God. I forgot how great water can be." Cole said between coughs.

"Well drink up, all yours." Cole took the water bottle and thanked Zeke. He quickly gulped down the water, breathing heavily.

Zeke stood up and walked back to the control room to check on Roger. "How we doing here Roger?"

"We should arrive in Texas sometime tomorrow. Bypassing the blockade should be easy."

"Good, good."

"Zeke, take the scanner and check."

"Roger-"

"I'm serious Zeke! I don't want to take any chances here! If his ass is infected, toss him overboard."

"If anyone's ass is going to be thrown overboard it'll be yours if you don't watch it." Zeke responded. Roger remained silent but rolled his eyes.

Nonetheless, Zeke complied with the request and grabbed Roger's scanner.

Zeke returned to Cole and found him still on his knees trying to recover.

"Hey uh Cole? Sorry I got to do this again. Standard protocol."

Cole nodded and remained on his knees. Zeke went behind him, placed the scanner on his head and sincerely prayed that Cole was not infected. He was told that the spore bombs thrown from Bloaters were usually not infectious, but no one knew for sure.

Despite that, he still prayed to whoever was listening for Cole to not be infected.

He wouldn't be able to stand losing his brother a second time.

* * *

Good god this chapter is long. I was doing a big revision for the second half of the chapter then BAM the size of the chapter just doubled on me XD

I am doing my best to keep Cole and Zeke in character. As most of you may notice, Zeke is a bit more aggressive and short-fused. 23 years of surviving those harsh conditions can be enough to make anyone a bit more on edge and brutal. Especially if you used to be a hunter. But if you guys don't like it, or think it's a bit too OOC, I will tone it done a notch. Scout's honor =)

The reason for this flurry of updates is because while planning for this story, I wrote out the first three chapters to see if I could do it. After this, the updates will start becoming a little less frequent. I'd say maybe down to once or twice a week.

Thanks for reading & please review! Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome. =)


	4. The Corruption Runs Deeper

Chapter 4: The Corruption Runs Deeper

The scanner remained green, indicating that Cole was not infected. Zeke breathed out a sigh of relief.

"He clean?" Roger emerged from the control room, leaving the boat running on auto pilot.

"Yeah he's clean. So you can stop shitting yourself now." Zeke tossed the scanner back at Roger.

Roger laughed and put the scanner on the ground. "So you two are headed for Wyoming?"

"Yep. From what I've seen and experienced, Jackson County is a haven. I went there years ago and it was great. No telling what it could be like now."

"I'm sure it's still just as great." Roger said while twiddling his fingers. Cole picked up on his anxiety.

"Something on your mind?" Cole asked.

"…Any…any chance you guys have room for one more?" Roger asked softly.

"Well there is power in numbers." Zeke said while looking at Cole.

Cole shrugged. "I don't see why not."

Roger's face lit up, knelt down, took Cole's hands and began to shake them furiously. "Thank you! Thank you!" He exclaimed.

"Don't sweat it, just don't be a drag."

"Of course. Now do you guys care for some food? I managed to sneak a few things from the base." Roger said with a smile.

"Mr. Atkins, isn't stealing illegal?" Zeke teased.

"Oh please, do you honestly think the laws still play a role in this hell hole? Even we don't follow the law. Never did to be honest…" Roger responded. He stood up and went back to the control room to retrieve the food.

"He seems fine to me; why do you give him a hard time?" Cole asked.

"The same reason why you gave me a hard time."

Cole thought back to when they were in Empire City. He still remembers when Zeke ran off with Kessler. Zeke looked him in the eye, before running off. He was so entangled in the idea of having powers, it heavily clouded his judgment and that mistake practically cost him everything.

"_I want you to disappear. Because if I find you, things are going to get ugly"_

Fast forward to New Marais. Zeke was determined to show that he was on his side. But he just couldn't wrap his mind around the latter. He still clung on to the belief that Zeke could stab him in the back at any moment. He fought those thoughts, becoming an all out war when Zeke joined the militia.

"_I better not wake up on a militia cage."_

As promised, he woke up and still found himself where he fell asleep. But that didn't mean Zeke still wasn't treading on thin ice.

But the ice thickened when Zeke risked his life to save him from Bertrand and the militia. And with that so did his guilt.

All the doubt was for nothing.

"You know I'm still sorry about that right? I really treated you like shit."

"Well now that I've been in your shoes, I understand why. I know that deep down inside that Roger is a good guy but there's always that nagging doubt in the back of the mind. I don't think I need to ask you about that."

"That thing nags more than women." Cole joked. Zeke laughed at loud.

At this time, Roger had returned with fresh, unopened sliced bread, ham, and multiple bottles of water.

"Damn! Military's been holding out!" Zeke exclaimed.

"Help yourself gentlemen; just try to leave a little something for me." Roger joked.

The three of them filled their bellies to their content with simple ham sandwiches. It was something so simple, but such a commodity was rare. One would be lucky to just find a can of expired beans.

It's amazing how one never knows the value of something until it becomes scarce or disappears. A lesson that many people had to learn in this new world

After their meal, Roger and Zeke had shown Cole how to craft shivs, med kits, Molotov cocktails, and nail bombs. Shivs required binding and blades. Med kits and Molotov Cocktails required alcohol and rags. Nail bombs required a tin can, blades, and explosives.

Cole committed all of this to memory as it will be needed during their journey.

After the crafting session, Cole and Zeke were about ready to fall asleep while Roger tended to the controls. They would be approaching the military blockade soon and had to be careful. Before the two of them completely checked out, Roger instructed for Cole and Zeke to sleep below deck.

**~I~F~T~L~O~U~**

The sun rose, painting the sky in a beautiful mess of pink and yellow. Roger had accidentally fallen asleep while manning the controls. He was lucky that Zeke had not walked in Zeke could have fed him to the sharks.

While watching the sunrise he thought about the words he overheard from the conversation between Cole and Zeke. There was a point where Zeke had betrayed Cole's trust. He didn't know how but just knew it happened. From what he could understand, Cole had also given Zeke a hard time but one significant event may have allowed Zeke to earn Cole's trust completely. He wished he knew what so he could use the same method.

What he did in the past was wrong and he regrets it. It still haunts his dreams to this very day.

In this post-apocalyptic world, everyone, one way or another, discovered just how inhumane themselves and the others could be. Roger experienced it, Zeke experienced it, but he wondered if Cole had experienced it. In these tumultuous 23 years, he had to. If he somehow hadn't, he will soon. It was inevitable.

Roger shook those thoughts from his head and focused on the task at hand. For some reason, the patrols seemed to be lower than normal. There would normally be dozens of ships but there were only just a handful on the water and they weren't moving.

The blockade was supposed to extend from Louisiana all the way to Texas and it was supposed to be thick. Not a single vessel, even the smallest row boat should be able to pass through the blockade. But now it seemed that several cruise ships would be able to pass with plenty of room to spare.

Why the sudden drop in security?

Roger couldn't stop to ask, it would raise too many questions. He's not even supposed to be heading in this direction. So he increased his speed and continued moving forward.

Before they caught on.

**~I~F~T~L~O~U~**

At about eight a.m. Cole and Zeke had come to the upper deck.

"Morning Roger, how goes it?"

"Excellent, we should arrive in Corpus Christi, Texas in about four hours."

Roger suspected that the military would try to keep track of him. For good measure found and destroyed the tracker he knew was on every ship. With hunters becoming more daring and bold, it was standard for every military ship or mobile vehicle to have a tracker. If any transport vehicle was caught going in a strange direction, it was an immediate search and destroy with no questions.

"What to do for four whole hours?" Cole asked.

"We could try and figure out where the hell you've been for 23 years." Zeke proposed.

"But that's the thing Zeke. I really don't remember. All I remember is activating the RFI then waking up in the swamps."

"And you don't recall doing anything in between?"

"Not a single thing." Cole responded.

"You sure you didn't stumble around and bump your head somewhere?"

"If I did I would have woken up with a killer head ache. I slept and woke up like I activated a blast core."

"Well first of all, from what I saw, the RFI was supposed to kill all conduits; active or inactive."

"Did they?" Cole asked.

"Well all those freaks-uh monsters dropped never to rise again. As far as I'm concerned, the ice conduits melted and are most likely someone's piss. No sign of the Beast."

"Something ain't right." Cole spoke. "What happened to the RFI?"

"Busted; found it not too far from you." Zeke responded. "But-"

"Yeah?"

"There was some mention of people with super human abilities near Seattle. This was around, maybe six months after you passed."

"How could conduits start popping up again if the RFI killed the last of them?"

Roger couldn't take it anymore. He stood up and set the boat on autopilot once more. He stepped out of the control room to where Cole and Zeke were sitting, "I know how."

"What?" Cole and Zeke asked.

"I know how the conduits started popping up again." Roger stood up.

"Explain." Cole said.

"The government was well aware of the situation in New Marais. They knew of your plans to kill the conduits. That's all they knew and that's all they cared about. They didn't want to lose the opportunity to prove their status as world power."

"Sometime after Empire City, they worked fast to create a device that would cancel out the negative side effect of the activation of the RFI."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Zeke spoke.

"Wish I was."

"It was complete in about three months, just in time. When you activated the RFI, and the conduits fell, this device the RFD was activated. Any conduits killed by the RFI were brought back to life."

Cole sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Well that explains how Cole was somehow was brought back to life, but that doesn't explain where the hell he was for 23 years." Zeke said.

"Well it could be possible that you were on the run until the outbreak. Unless…"

"I'm sure the corruption runs deeper here Roger?" Cole asked.

"Oh you're a mind reader Cole."

"This should be good."

"This time the government tried to directly communicate with the conduits. To coax them into working for them, ready to fight should the time ever arise; or just to be used to send a message. A select few accepted, but a majority refused. They wanted to be treated as human beings, not play things or puppets."

"Perfectly understandable."

"That's when the government had become suspiciously stricter. They wanted to somehow undo their mistake but now that the conduits had gone back to mixing with normal society, they couldn't just begin bombing cities to kill them off. So they created and passed these new laws and regulations. Anyone suspected of being a conduit was to be prosecuted.

"Assholes are no better than those hick fascists." Cole muttered.

"The amount of active conduits began growing in Seattle so you could guess the government immediately flocked over there to contain the situation. They claimed that they didn't want situations like Empire City and New Marais happening again. But obviously if it did escalate to proportions like that, it was their fault. But they wouldn't let us know that."

"And how do you know?"

"I'm a smart man in the military. A rare combination."

Cole and Zeke laughed.

"Oh Cole, you'll get a kick out of this. Would you like to know the new name the government gave conduits?"

"Let me hear it."

"Bio-terrorists."

Cole groaned. "I was expecting them to be a bit more creative than that."

"I had my doubts that whole fiasco was legitimate." Zeke quipped. "But that still doesn't explain where the hell Cole exactly was all these years."

"Maybe that bit of information will reveal itself in time." Roger asked.

"I hope so."

"Well gentlemen, we killed…a whopping half hour."

"Wonderful." Cole replied.

"What did you two usually do to kill time?"

"Knock the militia silly, ward off the swamp freaks, y'know the usual." Zeke responded.

Roger chuckled. "Well you two do that, I will return to manning the controls." He stood up and went back to the control room.

Cole laid down and stared at the sky, watching the clouds. He began to think deeply about Roger told him.

"_Nix was killed by the Beast but Kuo was technically killed by the RFI like me…"_

"Hey brother, I have an idea."

"Shoot."

"Roger, I hear you got a working TV on this thing?" Zeke yelled.

"You know it! Everything you don't have, the military certainly does!" Roger yelled back. "Fifth door on your left!"

"That's what I thought, come on." Zeke and Cole stood up and made their way back below dock. Five doors down and they found what they were looking for.

And then some.

They found a flat screen television mounted on the wall and several couches and chairs in front of it.

"Damn, movie night must have been a common event for them." Cole said.

"While the rest of us are risking our lives, they're kicking back, relaxing, and taking it easy. Sounds about right."

Zeke was at the shelf looking at their DVD collection. He had to give them credit; the military had good taste in movies. They had things from old classics to great hits of their time, before the world went to shit.

Speaking of old classics.

"Hey Cole, how about we pop this one in? For old time's sake?"

Cole looked at the DVD Zeke had chosen and smiled.

"The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, starring Clint Eastwood." Cole said smiling. "Son of a bitch…"

It was a movie that the two of them have seen more than a handful of times. But there was just something about it that just never got old.

Cole walked over to the DVD player and placed the DVD in.

"And it wouldn't be like old times without these." Zeke had a cooler filled with beer.

The two of them walked over to the sofa and sat down. They each opened a beer and clinked them before drinking them.

Half the movie gone and the cooler inching close to empty, the two were just slightly buzzed.

_(Gun fires and cowboy yells)_

Cole laughed.

"I love that part."

It just never gets old.

**~I~F~T~L~O~U~**

The boat had finally arrived at its destination in Corpus Christi, Texas. Roger took a look at the map and began planning a suitable route to get them out of Texas as soon as possible to continue north. Thankfully, there was no military presence in Texas, but there were still Hunters and the Infected to worry about.

The faster the better

"Hm, those two have been awfully quiet."

Roger hadn't heard from Zeke or Cole at all. They went below deck and he hasn't heard from them since.

Roger stood up, left the control room and made his way below deck. Based on the earlier conversation, the pair was most likely in the entertainment room.

He opened the door and found the movie "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly playing on the screen, most likely in its second play through.

He walked over to the couch and found Cole and Zeke fast asleep, beer bottles surrounding them.

"I guess this was another past time." Roger chuckled. He was about to wake them up but then decided against it.

The chance of the Infected attacking an immobile boat wasn't very likely after all.

And tackling the Infected or the Hunters buzzed wouldn't be the smartest of ideas.

Instead, he left the room, closing the door behind them and let them sleep.

Roger hadn't received proper sleep these past two days. His primary concern was with watching and preserving this boat and keeping a sharp eye out during this part of their journey. He had defected and wouldn't be unexpected if he was pursued.

He sat in the chair, propped his feet up and fell asleep within moments.

Everything was calm.

Calm before the storm.


	5. Texas

Chapter 5: Texas

_October 5__th__, 2034_

_8:35 A.M._

Cole woke up with a start. He looked around and after some minor confusion, his fogged up mind cleared and was able to recognize where he was.

He tried to move his arm but the movement was restricted. When he turned to find out why, he couldn't help but smile.

Zeke was fast asleep, having succumbed to the alcohol.

"Oh he's going to be feeling that one."

Just like last time, he harshly yanked his arm from Zeke's head. Zeke coughed and moved his head to the other side, still fast asleep.

Cole shook his head and wiped the sleep from his eyes. He turned the TV off and left the room. He walked up to the upper deck to see what Roger was up to.

When he walked into the control room, he found Roger sitting on the floor packing supplies and his weapons. He had two rifles attached to the holder on his bag as well as a machete with extra blades attached to it.

At the sound of the footsteps, Roger looked up. "Morning Cole."

"Morning." Cole responded.

Roger stood up to grab a med kit. "Have a good sleep?"

"Yeah, it wasn't bad."

"Good, good. With all that alcohol I would assume so." Roger joked. "How's the hangover?"

"Ah, I don't get hangovers. Zeke on the other hand, you may want to steer clear of for a few hours."

"Don't I know it…" Roger said softly.

Cole leaned against a wall and crossed his arms, examining Roger. He seemed to have an innocent enough appearance. Standing at 5'11", with a medium build. Years in the military and surviving this unforgiving world have been kind to him. He appeared to be in his early to mid forties, had light tan skin, brown eyes, black hair and a noticeable horizontal scar on the bridge of his nose extending to to his right cheek.

Roger had also changed out of his military uniform and now donned a black jacket with a black undershirt underneath, dark green cargo pants and black boots. He also had sunglasses perched on top of his head, most likely for his own reasons (probably similar to why Zeke insists on wearing sunglasses all the time).

But Cole knew that appearance doesn't say everything. "Why does Zeke give you a hard time?" He asked.

Roger looked up once more. "Simply put, I betrayed him. I was his friend and…I led him astray and…well…it cost him." He said solemnly. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with him last night. I understand that he had once done the same to you?"

Cole sighed. "Yeah. He made a mistake. He made a mistake and…I lost everything." Cole subconsciously rubbed his sleeve; the area that held his "TD" tattoo.

Roger caught this motion and went to ask, but he realized that it may be too sour of a subject to talk about.

"After some events went down, we sort of made up. But he was treading thin ice at all times. He was persistent and did anything for us to be friends like we used to be. But I just couldn't get over it. Took him risking his neck to save my ass realize he was sorry. Truly sorry."

"Really?" Roger said astonished. _"So he can be forgiving…"_

"Yeah. And I'm sort of glad he did that. I'm glad that…before…before I died that our friendship had been restored."

"I can die any day now and so can he. I hope I can restore our friendship before then."

"Only advice I'll give you is don't go looking for that opportunity. It'll find you."

Roger nodded his head in understanding. "Thanks Cole."

"Anytime. I got your back." Cole responded. "Now, do you have anything to cure hangovers on this thing?"

"We had a cooler full of beer, what do you think?" Roger laughed. "Isn't the only one here either."

Roger walked over to a cabinet and opened it, pulling out a bottle of pills. "Here we are; three pills and it's like the alcohol never went down your gullet."

On cue, Zeke had walked into the control room, groaning and holding his head.

"Morning Zeke." Roger said while opening a water bottle.

"Roger, anymore sound out your mouth and I will stick a Molotov in it."

"I'm sure you will." Roger walked over to him, handing him three pills and the bottle of water.

"What's this now?" Zeke asked, taking the items.

"The thing that will stop you from sticking a Molotov down Roger's throat." Cole responded.

"Really? I was looking forward to doing that. Oh well." Zeke laughed. Cole couldn't suppress a snicker and Roger smiled while rolling his eyes.

Zeke swallowed the pills and drank a good portion from the bottle.

"Those pills take a few minutes to kick in so we'll get going when that time arrives." Roger said. "If your symptoms return again later, I can give you two more pills. Just let me know."

"Roger dodger." Zeke responded.

"Do we have everything?" Cole asked.

"I'd say we're good to go. How about you two?"

"I'm a little low on ammo, but I'll manage. I'm good on everything else." Cole said.

"Low on ammo too, but I've been in worse situations." Zeke shot a harsh glare at Roger that even made Cole flinch. But Roger, most likely because he was used to them, didn't react, though still appeared somber.

"_You could at least stop guilting him."_

"Alright, I'm feeling good to go." Zeke drank the rest of the water and threw it in the trash bin nearby.

"Where to first Roger?" Cole asked.

"San Antonio. But it's not a short trek. About a two day trip on foot."

"Won't be short if we have to deal with hunters or Infected." Cole added.

"Yeah, keep those shivs, bottles, and bricks of yours handy."

"Let's go."

The three stepped off the ship and onto land. None of them knew what or who they would encounter.

In a world like this, no one knows for sure.

Each day was different from the one before. Every minute differed from the last.

But one thing was certain.

Endure.

And survive.

**~I~F~T~L~O~U~**

_10:50 A.M_

Much like New Marais, the once gorgeous city of Corpus Christi had been reduced to rubble. Not a sign of human life anywhere and Mother Nature was taking back what is rightfully hers.

The silence was enough to drive anyone mad.

"What do you think Roger? You think we'll have another early snow storm this year?" Zeke asked.

"Too early to tell. Though, judging by how cold it is now, I wouldn't be too surprised if we had one. But I still hope we don't have one."

"Big snow storms don't normally happen here though." Cole said confused.

"Ah October 16th, 2022. Mother Nature came in a great big white dress and the trail was long, enough to cover the whole ass end of the South for days. Man that was a brutal year." Zeke responded.

"We also had one December 21st, 2012. It wasn't that bad but we didn't know at the time that it was just the beginning. Seems like every ten years we get a deep freeze and enough snow to make the poles jealous." Roger said.

"And we're long overdue for another…"

Perhaps Mother Nature will be merciful?

Depends on her mood.

The trio had walked for almost six hours, the sun beginning to set in the sky. They were currently in Hazel Bazemore Park, looking for any supplies they can use. Cole managed to find a little bit of ammo for his rifle and for his pistol as well. It wasn't much, but one can only take what they can get. He also found raw material that he could craft into crucial supplies later.

Zeke found a significant amount of ammo for his shotgun, and some for his revolver as well, along with raw material.

Roger had found a good amount of ammunition for his rifles, and a disheartening note.

_They came from everywhere and one had come with a commandeered tank…_

_Bullets everywhere…_

_On the front it said to run. We thought it meant to safety or out of its way but we should have known better._

_We were to run into death._

_It may still lurk, it may have been destroyed, it may have left._

_But I pray it does not claim any more lives._

"Hunters…" Roger whispered. He took a walk around the small park and truly took in the amount of bodies that were here.

And many were fairly fresh.

"Everything alright Roger?" Cole asked.

"The Hunters were just here. Look, these bodies aren't that old."

Cole knelt down to observe a body that was slouched against a wall. The corpse had numerous bullet wounds decorating its body. There was also a piece of paper in its lap.

_There is no escape anywhere._

_Only in death._

"Jesus." Cole muttered.

"Y'all okay here?" Zeke asked.

"Yeah, but I don't think it's a good idea for us to linger here. Based on these notes, these hunters have a tank. And they ain't fucking around either. These bodies are fresh." Cole said softly.

"Well if it's one thing I've learned, it's not a good idea to stay in the open air at night when hunters are creeping about. We need to find a place to hunker down before sunset." Zeke spoke.

"Think we'll find more tourists around here?"

"I think that was the last bunch of them."

Cole's sensitive ears picked up on the conversation that wasn't too far from them. He used his radar pulse and found about seven heading in their direction; all of them well armed with guns or Molotov Cocktails.

They clearly were not fucking around.

"Get down." Cole whispered. They crouched down and took cover behind a bench.

"What's up?" Zeke asked.

"Hunters; seven of them. All of them ready to go to town if prompted."

"Where are they?" Roger asked.

Cole sensed them just a few feet in front of them. "Shh-shh."

"Let's gather up their supplies and quit this place."

Cole heard their footsteps begin to fade away, but they were still too close to them for them to make a move.

"What the fuck? These people were fucking loaded!"

"_Oh…fuck."_

"Fuckin' tourists man! Thieves all of them I tell ya."

"Spread out and search the area." One of them commanded.

Cole waited a moment to see how far they would spread out. This park isn't the largest park in the world. They mainly went in circles in the same area.

Not good.

"Bad news; they aren't spread out that much."

"What's the good news?" Roger asked sarcastically.

"I'll get back to you on that."

Despite moving in repetitive circles in one area, there was at least a pattern to their "deep searching." There were enough large objects for them to take cover behind. If they time it right and add in a few bottles and bricks to the equation, there may just be a big enough opening for a conflict-free escape.

"Alright, I have an idea. Follow my lead." Cole said.

"What's the plan?"

"We may be able to escape this situation without a scratch. We time things right and add a few well placed distractions, we're home free."

"Alright, after you brother." Zeke said.

"Since I have the most ammunition, I'll keep my rifle ready just in case." Roger spoke.

Cole nodded and picked up a brick that was beside him to start. He peered from the bench to find where would be the best spot to throw it. The further the brick landed, the better it would be for them.

He opted to throw it at the fence surrounding the park.

"Here we go." Cole threw the brick and once it collided with the metal fence, a faint but still audible sound rang out, easily capturing the attention of the hunters

Cole signaled at Zeke and Roger to move. Cole went behind another bench while Zeke and Roger went behind a fallen statue nearby.

Like Cole hoped, they flocked to the fence, albeit dangerously close to Zeke and Roger. He signaled at them to stay as still as possible.

Cole reached into his bag and pulled out an empty bottle.

This time may be a bit tricky because there was a high chance that this could back fire. Throwing a bottle from his position could give them away; a hunter who would just turn around at the right time could see where the bottle was thrown from.

Timing and placement was crucial here.

"Where the fuck are you fucker…?" One of them muttered.

Cole looked up and spotted a tree branch. A light bulb went off. "That could work…"

He signaled at Roger and Zeke to loop around to the right of their cover once the hunters move past them. They nodded their heads in understanding.

Cole aimed for the tree branch and threw the bottle.

"There's something over there!"

Cole moved over to the left of the bench, well out of their sight. He smirked when he saw his plan was working, all of them flocking to the tree like lamb to slaughter.

He then moved to take cover behind a large boulder, finding Roger and Zeke already there.

"Alright they're all over by the tree, so it should be a straight shot from here." Cole said.

"Good work. That was really close back there." Zeke said.

"We just have to get through that part of the park and we're safe." Roger said

"For now." Zeke added.

The three of them silently made their way out of the park and as promised, conflict-free.

But they weren't in the clear yet.

That group of hunters was barely a small fraction of the amount of hunters that are lurking about. They could be at around any corner, behind any tree, in any building.

In a tank.

Safety is a relieving illusion.

The trio had managed to find an abandoned mansion. It obviously has seen better years but it was better than nothing.

The once grand, glamorous, and luxurious mansion had succumbed to unintentional neglect, age, and Mother Nature's merciless grip. What was once used as a signal of high status had been ceremonially brought down as a solemn place of sanctuary. But it has long been abandoned. Several vines surrounded it as well as moss. Though despite the mansion's worn down state, the flowers still blossomed around it, signifying hope.

The trio did a thorough check to ensure that there were no infected or hunters wandering about. Along the way, they had also managed to find more ammunition, shivs, and gears. If they gathered enough, they would be able to upgrade their weapons.

Cole had also stumbled upon a locked door. He recalls Roger and Zeke telling him that locked doors are always a place of interest.

After sacrificing a shiv to open it, he found another more gears, and a hand gun, well known as "El Diablo". There was a note attached to it saying the gun was well upgraded, being able to hold many rounds, and the reload speed was exceptional. The only set back was the unnaturally and unusually large amount of recoil. But it can be repaired. Cole placed the note, the gun, and extra ammunition into his bag.

Once they deemed it clear, the trio settled down in the living room just as the sun disappeared from the sky, the moon taking its shift.

While Cole worked on lighting up the fireplace, Roger pulled out three cans of peaches for them to eat. The temperature had taken a deep nosedive and even with their jackets, it was fairly frigid in the house.

After eating, sharing jokes, and indulging Cole with survivor stories, they took off their bags and used them as pillows, ready to sleep; all three of them placing pistols under them. Sometime one just never knows. After a few minutes all three were fast asleep.

One day down.

* * *

**Sorry if this chapter appears a bit lack-luster. For some odd ball reason, around the middle of the chapter, it just got really hard to write. But I pushed through! XD**

**Also, as we're going through these next couple of states, I'm literally writing this while looking at Google Maps. So my accuracy when it comes to describing an area, may not be the best. Please forgive me X).**

**Next chapter will be an interesting one, I can say that much. Foreshadowing for the win =3**

**Thanks so much for reading and please review =)**


	6. A Lesson in Mercy

Chapter 6: A Lesson in Mercy

"Ok Cole, we'll just need to extract a little bit more blood."

"Doctor, he's already pale. Besides don't you have enough samples already? Give him a break."

"Oh stop worrying, he can handle it. I wouldn't be doing this if he couldn't."

The needle was stuck into Cole's arm for what was the fifteenth time in the past hour.

"Can't we at least give him some juice or something? Food?"

"No! We have to keep his blood pure."

At first glance, one could immediately tell that Cole had seen better days. His appearance was far worse for wear. His skin had taken a sickly gray color and black markings had begun appearing as well. And his condition seemed to be worsening with each amount of blood drawn.

"Look, I know you're worried, but we have to do this was as much precision as possible. We may not get any more chances at this." The doctor reasoned.

The woman scoffed. "Of course you will! There are plenty like him out there! There are people like him out there! Like me."

"While that may be true, Cole is a more special case."

"How so?"

"Once we have the lab results, I'll explain it in full; to the last detail. Now, aren't you needed somewhere?" The doctor spoke.

The woman, angered, shook her head and stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

The doctor tsked and pulled the needle out of Cole's arm, causing him to wince slightly. He was barely aware of his surroundings, on the verge of passing out.

"Oh perhaps you do need a bit of a break. So be it." The doctor sighed and gently laid Cole back on the table.

"_You know this isn't right. The cause is heroic, but the intention is selfish..."_

"_This, you, could be their only opportunity. You can't leave now. They're so close…"_

Cole closed his eyes, trying to put himself at peace.

But the war in his consciousness just could not be resolved.

**~I~F~T~L~O~U~**

Cole woke up and found himself once again in the living room of the mansion. The fireplace had gone out on its own, leaving the room in the dark. He looked around and found Roger and Zeke still fast asleep, both of them snoring lightly.

He looked to the outside and saw the sun was just beginning to rise, the sky painted in a mesh of pink and yellow. He felt a throbbing sensation in his arms. A sensation reminiscent of...needles.

Cole rubbed his arms in an attempt to sooth the sensation. After some time the sensation began to simmer down becoming fainter. He didn't feel any pain but it still felt unusual.

After watching the sun rise, Cole laid back down on his bag with his hands behind his head and closed his eyes to try to catch some extra sleep.

"_Humanity is dead. Help us save what we can."_

Cole's eyes flew open and sat up to try to find the source of the voice. He used his radar pulse but failed to sense anyone who might be in the area. It couldn't have been from Roger or Zeke; the voice was a distant whisper, but like it was spoken directly into Cole's ears, and sounded vaguely feminine.

Cole closed his eyes once more and managed to fall asleep once more.

For a few minutes.

"Their trail goes in here!"

Cole eyes flew open. He immediately sat up and looked around. He easily spotted the pair of hunters as they walked in. With no time to grab his bag, he scrambled behind a couch for cover.

The hunters walked over to Zeke and Roger's still sleeping bodies.

"Well what do ya know? It's this asshole!"

_"Damn Zeke for being a heavy sleeper."_

"Looks like there's a third guy. Search his bag and scan the place for him. I'll take care of these two.

Pain suddenly came rushing in Cole's head. He grabbed his head and let out pained yell.

"What was that?"

Cole began having flashes of one of his old powers.

The tingling sensation returned to his arms in full and what Cole did next was something he loved and missed.

He stretched his arms out to the side. A ring of electricity surrounded him and a current surrounded his arms as well.

Then the couch was lifted.

"What the fuck!" One of the hunters yelled.

They raised their rifles and just as they pulled the trigger, Cole threw the couch at them. The impact surely killed them and the sound roused Roger and Zeke out of their deep slumber. The both of them sitting up simultaneously with their hand guns locked and loaded.

The pain subsided in Cole's head as the electricity died down. He felt a bit light headed and fell to the side.

Zeke tucked his handgun in his holder while running over to Cole. "Cole! Cole, you alright man?"

"Yeah…yeah. Ugh what just happened?"

"I believe you just saved our asses just now." Zeke responded.

"By using a couch apparently. No need to teach you how to be resourceful." Roger said in astonishment.

"They're in here!" A voice in the living room shouted out.

Zeke immediately looked to Roger.

"That wasn't me!" Roger exclaimed.

"That sound clearly came from in here. And you're the only one here with a functioning mouth that can yell something like that." Zeke said with a menacing tone. He slowly walked to him while cocking his gun. "Well?"

Cole sighed and rolled his eyes. _"Even I wasn't that big of an ass."_

"In here! Fucking tourists!" The voice yelled out once more.

Zeke nearly dropped his gun and looked around.

"Well I ain't good with ventriloquism! Believe me now asswipe?!"

"You better watch it now..."

"Guys! I think there's a direr situation happening now! Like getting the fuck outta here?!" Cole exclaimed.

Cole got up and went to retrieve his bag and his El Diablo. He used his radar pulse and found a large number of hunters closing in on them.

"Cole's right. We gotta get a move on." Roger said, picking up his bag.

"You and I ain't done." Zeke growled.

"Will we ever be?" Roger responded.

Cole's headache was making a return, but for a different reason this time.

Cole looked around to try to find a means of escape. Going upstairs could potentially corner them into a situation that they may not be able to get out of.

But going anywhere else would yield similar results; upstairs despite the latter, would still allow a bit more breathing room.

"Upstairs. Now." Cole instructed.

They immediately went up the steps and along the way, managed to find the identity of the mystery voice. A hunter, internal organs squashed beyond repair, still clinging onto life.

"You fuckers *cough* don't stand a chance." He managed to say.

"Same can be said for you." Zeke pulled out his pistol and fired, hitting him directly in the head. An instant kill.

"Jesus Zeke." Cole muttered.

"What? He was dead anyway." He continued up the steps, Roger following in tow. Cole stayed at the middle of the staircase looking at the bodies and the growing amount of blood that followed.

Cole never had problems with killing before but mowing down another human in cold blood, even if it's to put them out of their misery, for some reason didn't sit right with him.

Was this the world they lived in now?

"The voice was from in here!"

Cole immediately rushed up to the top of the steps upon hearing the nearby footsteps and voice.

From the top he watched what had happened.

"Fuck! Curtis! Tom! Fucking hell...who did this to you?!" The hunter exclaimed sadness and agony dripping his voice. The other hunter placed a hand on his shoulder.

It just didn't feel right to Cole.

**I~F~T~L~O~U~**

From the bedroom window, the trio managed to make their escape. They fell into a tense silence and continued walking, soon reaching the abandoned town of Mathis.

"So Cole, you didn't explain what happened there." Roger said, breaking the tense silence.

"For a few moments, it looked like I got my powers back. Or at least one aspect of them."

"So that was a onetime deal?" Zeke asked.

"Looks like it Z." Cole responded.

"Well you're still a pretty sharp shot. At least we still have that." Zeke said.

"Let's feed off that optimism for a while." Roger said.

Zeke turned to comment but Cole sensed that it wasn't going to be a pleasant one. He shot Zeke a look, telling him to shut it. Zeke closed his mouth and turned back

If these hunters and infected don't kill him, these two most likely will.

While walking, Cole heard the faint sound of a gun being fired. He used his radar pulse and sensed a bullet going straight for him. He quickly shoved Roger and Zeke behind a van, just narrowly missing the bullet.

"What is it?" Zeke asked.

Cole opened his mouth to answer but Zeke's question was answered by the window of the van breaking by another high speed bullet.

"God damn sniper." Roger said.

"Got any idea where he might be shooting from?" Zeke asked.

Another bullet had hit the car and judging by the sound it definitely left its mark.

"Looks like somewhere down the street. And it's a powerful one." Cole responded. "Alright, I'm the only one who can survive shots from a sniper rifle. I'm going to make my way around to try and get an angle on him. You two try to distract him the best you can so you can keep the attention off me."

Another bullet made its mark.

"Alright brother, be careful." Zeke said.

"Here, you might need this." Roger handed Cole a box of extra ammunition for his rifle.

"You holding out on us Roger?" Zeke asked.

Roger remained silent.

_"Should I really leave these two alone? What are the odds that Roger accidentally misspeaks and Zeke has a human shield to work with? Or vice versa..."_

Cole shook his head of those thoughts. It was a chance he would have to take. He got ready to move. The reload time between shots was very short so he had a very short amount of time to move between cover. He may be able to take more bullets than the average human being but that didn't mean he was immortal.

Though it isn't shown often, Cole does still have his limits. He is still human after all. Super human maybe, but still human.

Cole took a deep breath and waited for the sniper to fire. Once the shot rang out, Cole quickly moved behind a nearby car. The sniper fired and missed by a few inches.

Those few inches, as small as they were, undoubtedly were crucial.

"Why don't ya stick out that pretty head of yours? I'll make it _real _pretty for ya!" The sniper taunted.

Cole scoffed but his heart beat quickened nonetheless. He jumped a little as the sniper fired at his cover.

"Come out and play!" The sniper fired again.

Cole took this opportunity to run to cover, this time behind a stack of bricks.

"Oh come on! Don't worry I won't hurt ya!" The sniper fired again.

There was a small house in front of Cole. Passing through it could save him a lot of time and reduce his risk of getting shot. He went around to the right of his cover just as the sniper fired, safely entering the house. He went to the kitchen and found gears, more ammunition for his pistol and raw material.

The sniper fired futility at the house, possibly trying to get a rouse out of Cole.

"Aw where'd ya go?!"

Cole shook his head, slipped out of the kitchen and upstairs. The sniper continued firing at the lower part of the house, signifying that he was safe up here.

Cole laid low and went over to the windows. He used his radar pulse to get an idea of where the sniper rifle was. This action opened an opportunity. The sniper was still far but his position was in view and he still wasn't wise of Cole's position. The upgraded scope on his rifle could allow him to end this. He remained on one knee and pulled out his rifle. He leaned against the window and aimed.

"Time to end this."

But he forgot one drawback of this powerful rifle.

The laser.

The sniper spotted the laser on his arm that was moving toward his head and immediately turned his rifle towards Cole.

"Oh shit!" Cole just barely managed to duck, the bullet just narrowly grazing the top of his head.

"Oh! Trying to get the angle on me aren't ya! Let's change that! Get 'im boys!"

"Damn it…" Cole muttered. He sensed a hoard of hunters out in the open, actively searching for him. He wished he could somehow contact Zeke and Roger, to tell them to forget about distracting the sniper and to remain put. They could be easily overpowered by these blood thirsty hunters and this undoubtedly precise sniper.

"How about we find your friends eh?" The sniper fired once more at the window. "Spread out!"

Cole audibly groaned. "It just keeps getting better…"

**~I~F~T~L~O~U~**

"Great, more hunters." Zeke said.

Roger sighed. "What now?"

"Sniper's got Cole pinned down in that house but as far as I'm concerned, he doesn't know where we are."

When Cole left them, Zeke and Roger opted to go take refuge by the side of a house instead of remain behind the van.

"We gotta try to draw their attention to us so Cole can continue on. You got a good amount of bottles or bricks on you?"

"Plenty to spare." Roger responded.

"Alright, let's get to the upstairs of this house and find a window. Preferably out of the sniper's sight. We'll try to draw them towards the middle of the street, away from that house."

Roger nodded in understanding.

Through a hole in the house, they walked in and went upstairs. The bedroom was their best bet of staying out of the way out of the sniper's range.

"Alright, let's do this." Zeke reared back and threw the bottle.

"Did you fucking hear that?" A hunter exclaimed.

"Check over there!" The sniper ordered.

Three hunters flocked to the area, looking around for what made the noise

The sound of a gun firing sounded off…but it wasn't from the sniper's rifle. A hunter fell to the ground, his head blown clear off.

"Oh fuck!"

"Frank, what the fuck?"

"That wasn't me you chicken-brained shits! Search the area!"

"Bam! Right in the kisser! Nice one Cole!" Zeke couldn't help but be proud of Cole. He expected Cole to be a bit of a lost call without his powers. He's had them for so long that they've been integrated into who and what Cole was. Imagining Cole without them was strange. But now Zeke doesn't have to worry. Without his powers, Cole was a capable fighter, skilled strategist, and a crack shot.

What more could he ask for?

But like all good things, there's always a distinct flaw.

Cole was too hesitant.

Indeed, Cole is no stranger to killing before. There's no telling how many reapers, dust men, first sons, and militia Cole had taken down. But this was before Cole's powers began to grow. As his powers developed, Cole had developed a method of restraining his enemies once defeated so that they could do no more damage. Zeke always respected that. It showed Cole was not a cold-blooded killer. And the people loved him for that.

But Cole doesn't have his powers now. There's no way of restraining his enemies anymore. It's either kill or be killed. You can't be showing mercy like that anymore.

"Zeke, we should get a move on. They have an idea of where we are." Roger spoke, breaking Zeke out of his thoughts.

"Yeah…yeah…okay." Zeke stood up and walked out of the room, leaving a confused Roger behind.

Zeke hoped Cole knew what he's doing and what he has to do.

**~I~F~T~L~O~U~**

Cole went over to a window and found a trio of hunters nearby. He pulled out his rifle and aimed it at a hunter's head, this time without using the scope. One power he was glad still stuck with him was precision.

Once his shot was lined up, he pulled the trigger. But he was not prepared for what happened next.

The hunter's head was blown clear off, pieces of it flying everywhere.

"Oh fuck!"

"Frank, what the fuck?"

"That wasn't me you chicken-brained shits! Search the area!"

Cole shakily put the rifle back in its holder and gawked at the corpse.

Cole was no stranger to killing; he's always been a kill or be killed world. But he found creative ways to avoid killing, especially other human beings. Just attack long enough until they were wounded, and then restrain them so they can do no more damage.

"Well that's one down. God knows how many to go…"

Cole shook his head and rubbed his eyes before he climbed out of the bedroom window, taking cover behind another car.

Zeke and Roger continued throwing bottles and bricks to capture the attention of the both the hunters and the sniper, giving Cole clearance to move about freely.

Cole kept moving about until he spotted two houses fairly close to each other with open windows.

"Easy short cut." Cole smirked.

Cole entered the house and was currently making his way up the stairs.

In his sight.

_**BANG!**_

The bullet directly hit Cole in his shoulder.

This was truly a powerful rifle. The bullet had gone straight through Cole's shoulder, coming out the end and going into the wall behind him.

"Yeah! Yeah! Do it again!" The sniper mocked.

Wasting no time, Cole ran up the rest of the stairs, carefully scanning the area to make sure there wasn't an open area that could give him away.

Once he deemed it safe he took off his bag, the action causing him to wince, and looked for a med kit. He took off his jacket and undershirt to examine the wound.

"God damn."

The wound was deep and bleeding profusely from both ends.

He opened the med kit and took out the rubbing alcohol, poured some on a rag and placed it over the wound. Once the bleeding had slowed down and was partially cleaned off, he took out the binding to wrap around the wound. He bit off the binding once he was done, then put his shirt and jacket back on, placing his bag back on as well.

"Let's check in here!" A voice rang out, coming from directly below Cole.

Cole went into the bathroom, hiding behind the door and listened closely. There were just two; both of them armed with just unmodified melee weapons. One of them was making his way upstairs. He was currently walking into the bedroom. Cole crouch walked behind him, ready to strangle him. But his presence was given away by a distinct sound emitted by the enemy of anyone trying to be sneaky. It never seems to fail at its job.

Damn floor board.

The hunter immediately turned around struck Cole with the 2x4 in his hands, breaking it. He began throwing punches, but missing wildly. Cole countered one of his attacks and began striking back.

"He's up here!" The hunter exclaimed before Cole knocked him out.

The second hunter had made it up the stairs and began swinging at Cole with his metal pipe. Cole managed to wrestle the pipe out of the hunter's grip and began to hit him. The hunter was on its knees and Cole was ready to land the final blow.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait!" The hunter exclaimed. Cole stopped and stepped back. The hunter slowly stood back up and put his hands up signifying peace. "Look, we can work things out. Just…"

Cole began to lower the metal pipe and once he did, the hunter struck, punching Cole hard in the jaw. He overpowered Cole and grabbed him by the neck pushing him against the wall.

"Pretty stupid move for a pretty boy." The hunter mocked, his grip tightening around Cole's neck.

Little did he know, Cole had managed to pull out his pistol during the struggle. He blindly pointed it at the hunter's crotch and fired twice. The hunter relinquished his grip around Cole's neck and fell back.

Cole pushed himself off the wall and walked away coughing, trying to get his breath back.

"Wait…help…"

Cole turned back around stared at the wounded hunter before aiming his pistol at the hunter's head. He was about to pull the trigger, but then decided against it. He turned back around and went into the bedroom, letting the hunter bleed out instead.

He went over to the window and jumped to the window outside, pulling himself inside the adjacent house. He was getting close, just a house or two away.

**~I~F~T~L~O~U~**

"I think that's the last of them." Zeke said, while pulling out his machete from the corpse of a hunter.

"I hope so. Now all Cole has to do is finish off the sniper and we're home free."

"I'm not too sure about that." Zeke responded softly.

This confused Roger. "What do you mean? Why wouldn't he be able to?"

Zeke shook his head. "Ah never mind, let's just stand by until Cole does the deed." Zeke continued crouch walking to nearby cover.

"First he wants to kill me now he wants to confuse me." Roger muttered. "What an enigma."

**~I~F~T~L~O~U~**

Cole was now in the house, his target right above him. Finally at the end. He slowly made his way upstairs grew curious as to why the sniper had stopped firing. Perhaps he knew he was coming?

Cole finally made it upstairs and found the room with the sniper rifle.

But no sniper behind it.

"Well guns don't fire themselves…"

He cautiously walked into the room and was pushed to the ground by the alleged sniper, trying to prevent the assailant from plunging the shiv into his neck.

"Oh come to make this personal eh?"

Cole managed to push him off and immediately kicked him the head, knocking him out.

"Well that was anti-climactic." Cole mused. He knelt down beside him and began searching his body for any useful supplies. In the midst of searching, he discovered a distinct marking on his right hand.

A bite mark?

"Did one of those hunters bite me?" He raised his hand up to get a better look at it. He shook his head and waved it off. Another mystery for another day.

Cole noticed that this sniper was wearing fingerless gloves. That could be useful when climbing or when handling a gun. He took off the fingerless gloves and slipped them on, effectively hiding the bite mark on his right hand. Everyone was wary of bite marks these days and would definitely save him questions from Roger and Zeke.

"He's in here!"

"Oh crap."

Cole sensed a group of six hunters heading his way. And a majority of them were well armed. Even with a powerful rifle and handgun, he could be overpowered.

The only means of escape, the window, was boarded up with wood, only allowing room for the sniper rifle to peer out.

The sniper rifle.

It was his only chance at this point.

Cole began pulling at the holders for the rifle. After a bit of a struggle, Cole managed to break it free.

"There you are asshole." The hunter appeared at the doorway and ran at Cole with his machete.

Cole's turned around and his finger instinctively pulled on the trigger causing the gun to fire. The bullet hit the hunter directly in the stomach and sent him backwards into the wall, killing him instantly.

"Oh fuck! He's got the sniper rifle!" One of the hunters exclaimed.

Cole immediately exited the room and went into the hallway where he found the now five hunters frozen in place.

Cole rose up his rifle and aimed at the men.

"Please, please don't kill us man. Just…let us go."

"Get on your knees and drop your weapons." He demanded. The hunters immediately complied.

"Now stay that way. No funny shit."

"Whatever you say man. Just…don't shoot." The hunter pleaded.

He lowered the rifle and held it in one hand, keeping one finger on the trigger, giving the message that he was ready to shoot if provoked. He made his way down the small hallway keeping the hunters in his sight as he walked down the stairs.

"Roger! Zeke! It's clear come on out!"

"My man! You did it brother." Zeke said while walking out of a house. Roger came out following him.

"Surprised you didn't try to kill him." Cole joked.

"Yeah, gold old Roger lucked out didn't he?" Zeke said smiling, placing an arm around his shoulders.

_**BANG!**_

A gun was fired and the bullet struck Cole where he'd been struck not too long ago. He let out a yell and fell, clutching his shoulder.

"More hunters!" Roger exclaimed. Zeke grabbed Cole to take cover behind a car while Roger went behind a truck.

"I'm ending this shit now." Zeke reached into his bag and pulled out a Molotov cocktail. He lit it up peered out of the cover and threw it. All five of the hunters were consumed in the flames, being burnt to a crisp in almost no time.

"Where did those ass wipes come from?" Zeke questioned. He looked at Cole and when he didn't meet his glance, his eyes widened.

Zeke's fears had come true.

He also spotted the sniper rifle in the middle of street, showing that Cole had it in his possession.

"You have that monster in your hands and you don't mow these idiots down?" Zeke asked.

Cole looked up at Zeke but remained silent. "Mercy Cole? Really?

"See what mercy gets you Cole? You see?" Zeke pointed at Cole's bleeding shoulder.

"It's just a scratch Z! I'm fine!"

"What- a _scratch_? You're bleeding like a girl on the rag!"

Zeke pulled Cole to his feet by his good arm.

"I know you used to show mercy in the past Cole but those days are long gone. The past is in the past." Zeke said. "Let this be a lesson in mercy Cole; it's good for one thing and one thing only. Getting you killed."

Zeke walked over the crisp corpses and searched their bodies for salvageable supplies.

"Cole, I used to be a doctor before joining the military. I'm familiar with this type of injury and I have the supplies. Let me take care of this for you." Roger said softly.

Cole nodded and followed Roger into a house and they sat down on the sofa. He helped Cole take his jacket and shirt off.

"Shit Cole. Twice?" Roger asked.

"The sniper managed to get me in the shoulder." Cole responded

It would turn out that the bullet hasn't hit Cole directly where the sniper had got him, just about half an inch or so above it.

"Alright, it looks like both bullets haven't hit anything major less you would be dead by now. But then again you're a conduit." Roger said while examining the wound.

"Yeah, I'm infamous for giving death the middle finger regularly."

Roger laughed loudly. "Alright, I have to get this bullet out of you, but it ah won't be painless."

"No pain, no gain. Do what you got to do doc." Cole responded.

Roger nodded and took off his bag to find his medical kit.

Zeke had walked into the room and sat down on the couch nearby them.

The tense silence had returned.

And tension was thick.

* * *

**Unexpectedly long chapters FTW XD**

**So...interesting turn of events here. What can you catch? There's quite a bit...**

**Please review =)**


	7. Running

Chapter 7: Running

"Simply remarkable. His body rejects the infection like it's the common cold!"

"Why is that exactly?"

"We're about to find out…"

**~IFTLOU~**

Cole's eyes shot open and looked to the side. He felt something being wrapped around his shoulder and began to panic. Once he looked over and saw Roger wrapping bandages around his shoulder his panic died down.

"_Why did I think it was something else?"_

"Oh you're awake. I only gave you enough so that I could remove the bullet."

"You didn't have to do that." Cole croaked out.

"Oh I insisted." Roger said with a smile. "Better accuracy when my patients don't scream."

"Who said I'd scream?" Cole laughed. Roger laughed as well.

Cole looked around and saw that Zeke wasn't in the room. "Hey, where's Zeke?"

"Outside on the roof, keeping guard with the sniper rifle. Told him this might take a while and it appears that we're smack dab in hunter territory." Roger assisted Cole in putting his shirt and jacket back on.

"Anyone come by yet?"

"No one yet. Hopefully it stays that way."

"Yeah, let's feed off that optimism for a while."

Zeke walked back inside and unintentionally threw the sniper rifle on the floor.

"No one's come?"

"Nah it's all clear. But I wouldn't cling on to that happy news for a long time. There's still the matter of the tank apparently lurking about." Zeke looked at Cole. "You doing alright man?"

"Yeah I'll be fine. Nothing that won't heal."

Silence had fallen once more in the room, the tension slowly beginning to creep in.

"Look…I'm sorry I flipped out on you earlier. I can't force you to be a cold blooded killer after being out for twenty three years. I know that's not you. Never has been really."

"It's okay. I'm sorry too. Truth is I can't. I may never be able to kill like you do without feeling sick to my stomach. Maybe someday soon, but I wouldn't count on it. All I can do is make do with what I have."

"You're a human shield, got a killer knockout punch and can punt heads into next week. Hypothetically of course." Zeke joked. "I'd say that's enough." He smiled.

The tension that existed between the two of them had been killed just as quickly as it came.

And Roger was astonished.

There were times he doubted that he and Zeke would be able to have the friendship they had all those years ago. Though the immediate destruction of said friendship was his fault, it was against his will. An order was an order.

But looking at the way Cole and Zeke interacted with each other gave him hope.

Maybe someday Zeke will be able to put what happened behind them. Not let it affect their friendship as much.

The past can remain the past.

**~I~F~T~L~O~U~**

Running…

Running…

"He's over here!"

Why the hell am I running?

Trees…plants…I'm…in a forest?

I don't know why but all I know is I have to keep running. I have to.

"He's in my sights!"

Gunshots begin firing off. All of them from assault rifles. They hit me, but…my body brushes them off like I'm being poked.

For now.

"Why isn't he going down?!"

"He's a - you idiot! Takes a lot more to take down those freaks."

I couldn't hear that word properly. I don't think I would have been able to process it either.

Make a left…

Hide behind a tree.

No climb up, get a better vantage point.

I should have thought this through.

But I didn't. I couldn't. Man short notice plans suck.

Maybe I should have gone with that woman.

What was her name?

What did she even look like?

Never mind. They're getting closer.

I need to defend myself…but…so little energy. No place to recharge.

But _they_ can be sources.

No…there's no time. I have to keep moving.

"He's in the trees!"

Moving…have to keep moving.

"God damn it where's our sniper?"

"He's taken like five sniper shots already jar head!"

"Fine…get the RPG."

"Isn't that dangerous? The RPG has a wide range."

"I don't want to fucking hear it. Get the RPG. We can't let him go. He's our only chance at this.

How long have I been running? Where the hell am I?

"Burn - as long as we can salvage the blood - his DNA."

The branch I'm standing on suddenly breaks and I'm falling to the ground. A fall like this usually doesn't hurt, even from a height as small as this. Wrong day to _not_ be a cat.

"Leave - Transport him to Arizona - in Phoenix."

I hit the ground with a hard thud, pain immediately rushing in. The electricity jumps to soothe the pain. I hear the thunder rumbling in the sky.

"Fire!"

Good day to _be_ a cat.

Quickly, on my hands and feet I move out of the way. It saved me a direct hit, but the blast still sent me flying back first into another tree.

I groan and reopen my eyes, vision beginning to gray out in some spots, my ears ringing from the loud sound of the RPG. I take a few deep breaths and my vision returns to normal and my ears stop ringing. Just in time.

"Fire!"

I quickly get up and do a combat roll out of the way. My ears start ringing again.

God damn everything hurts. The electricity is doing all it can to heal my body but I'm running out.

Gotta keep moving.

"Spread out and find him!"

I stay in the bushes and focus what energy I have left. Everything unimportant fazes out while everything else becomes light as day. They're everywhere, more than I can count at this point, and all of them well armed. In my weakened state it's best that I don't piss them all off at the same time.

Doesn't mean I won't though. Eventually.

One of them is walking in my direction. He doesn't have much on him, an assault rifle with 10-20…no 40 bullets. But it's not what's on him that counts. It's what's _in_ him.

Morality is dead.

I wait for him to get close enough to me. He eventually stops walking and stands with his back to me. I lay low and walked toward him.

But my timing was off. I moved too slowly and he turned around. His eyes went wide and went to open his mouth to signify that he had found me.

_Shut. The. Fuck. Up._

I immediately tackled him to the ground and restrained him; my arm on his neck, restricting any sound, limiting proper oxygen intake and I put my knee on his arm. He certainly isn't flexible enough to kick me wherever it would matter. Besides, his other hand was currently trying to restrain mine. He saw the blue glow in my hand and knew what it meant.

He _should_ know.

He tried to fight me off but it was no use. My hand went to his face and the surge of electricity immediately coursed through my veins. Every wound was healed and my weak state was a thing of the past.

I felt truly alive, after being dead for so long.

I look down at him and briefly study him.

A yellow star.

Apparently this was a dark feast.

I began to search his body for anymore supplies. I need to get away from here. Far away from here. Back home. I'm not immortal, definitely going to need some stuff to help me get there.

I felt the cool barrel of a gun on the back of my head. I raise my arms up in surrender but I should have known better. The time for negotiating was gone.

The trigger was pulled and the bullet went straight into my head. My eyes were wide open, my jaw slack, and my vision completely gray. Soon beginning to darken in some spots. I felt myself being roughly picked up and carried. Then I was tossed like useless cargo onto the back of a truck.

My hearing is still active but I can only make out a few words.

"- Tell me how this works again?"

"Chemical - body - rejects the infection."

"Because of the - ?"

"Take him to Phoenix - harness-cure - "

Their words begin to become too muffled so I didn't bother listening in anymore. My vision darkens and I'm soon consumed by darkness.

But in the darkness I see…floating…glowing….lights…

They remind me of…fireflies…

Then my vision clears up; it returns to gray then begins to clear up. I feel rain coming down and crack of lightning lights up the sky, followed by a sharp rumble of thunder. I feel alive once more.

There are two more trucks beside this one; one on each side. Three men stay on the back of the trucks with rifles ready, keeping guard.

"Going to Arizona - "

How long was I out?

Doesn't matter now.

All I know is that I can't and I will not go with _them_.

I let the electricity flow freely until it surrounds the truck.

Then the truck is lifted

"What the fuck?"

"This fucker took a bullet in the brain! How the fuck?"

I will not yield…

**~I~F~T~L~O~U~**

"Cole…Cole…Cole!"

Cole was roughly shaken out of his sleep by Zeke.

"_Another strange dream…" _He looked over at Zeke and saw that he had a panicked look on his face.

Something was wrong.

"What's the matter?" Cole asked.

"Swarm of hunters and…the tank is here."

Cole's eyes widened.

"Roger's trying to find a route around them, but like he said we're smack dab in the middle of hunter territory."

Cole sits up and stands up, before grabbing his bag. He spies the sniper rifle on the floor and contemplates taking it.

"Take it man; we're going to need all the firepower we can get. I was able to salvage a lot of Molotovs, nail bombs, and ammo."

"I'll definitely take it but it's not going to be enough. Roger isn't kidding." Cole used his radar pulse and his mind was filled with numerous amounts of hunters searching the area. And the tank followed not too far behind them.

Roger came running down the stairs with a somber look on his face. He couldn't find an escape route.

"We gotta come up with something! We're just sitting ducks out here." Zeke said. "Couldn't we just keep going the way we were going; keep heading north?"

"They've got the perimeter of this place surrounded."

"How did they know we were here?" Cole asked.

"Sniper must have sent out a signal when he saw us. Some sort of security measure I suppose."

Cole sighed and rubbed his head. He began to pace back and forth.

"_I've taken out those gangs and conduits in Empire City_, _the Beast, helicopters, all of that bullshit. There must be something…"_

He had to have had that dream for a reason.

"_If I knew where I was in that dream this could be much simpler."_

Wait.

_Forest._

"Roger, are there any forests near here? Woods or anything like that?" Cole asked, gears turning fast in his head.

"Paiz Park. Maybe not so much trees, it's mainly a field, but there is tall grass."Roger responded. "Why?"

"Where is it?"

"About Northeast from here."

"Though it may be a bit risky I say we can shake them off there. Shouldn't knock us off too far from our route, right?"

"Not really. I mean if you find an extra couple of minutes added on a disaster then we'll have to reconsider."

Cole laughed. "Alright. Just as long as they don't have an RPG."

"A what?"

Oops. That thought wasn't to himself. "Uh, nothing, nothing. We good to go?"

"I am. Are you Roger?"

"Always am."

"Alright, let's do it."

**~I~F~T~L~O~U~**

The trio managed to slip by and leave Mathis, the hunters none the wiser. As they continued on to Paiz Park, the number of hunters began gradually decreasing. Once they got to Paiz Park they found the area completely void of hunters.

As Roger said, the grass here was quite over grown and if they laid low, they would be very hard to spot.

But one more problem.

It was quiet.

Too quiet.

Uncomfortably quiet.

"Alright from here, we can continue on to Pleasanton…" Roger trailed off.

"What…what's wrong Roger?"

"Shh!" Roger pointed ahead of them.

"Well it's no wonder this place is so quiet." Cole muttered.

Not too far from them was a clicker, staggering about, emanating its signature clicker sound every once in a while.

"Well it's just one, we just have to-"

Cole faintly heard the powerful roar of an engine. Too powerful to be a car…

A surge of pain went through Cole's head and voices soon filled it.

"_There are some infected over in Paiz Park. Marcus, take that tank of yours over there and clear them out before they make their way here."_

The tank appeared not too far from them. Roger gestured them to stay as close to the ground as possible. They all went to lie on their stomachs, resting on their arms in the tall grass. It's a good thing that they were wearing dark colors that blended easily against nature's landscape.

The tank began firing at the clicker and continued to fire even when there was undoubtedly nothing left of it.

The loud sound of the tank's engine and gun fire alerted the infected that wandered nearby. Their screeches loudly filled the air and ran over to the source of the sound.

"_And you know what to do if you find those tourists Frank warned us about."_

The trio was sandwiched between the infected and a tank. What could they do? If they stayed, they would easily welcome death. If they ran, the tank would most likely spot them. There was still a sliver of possibility that it wouldn't but it wasn't a comforting chance.

Cole looked at the infected. Not too many runners or stalkers, but a scary amount of clickers and a downright frightening number of bloaters.

He looked over at the tank and saw that it was well protected. Completely covered with steel, barbed wire and on the front, in black paint said "run". Nothing, at least with the first shot, could destroy it.

But then Cole spotted something flashing on the side.

He was familiar with that device.

A device with five glowing lights on it, with the sixth one flashing.

This device usually served one of three purposes on a machine; as a powerful aid, a source, or a weakness.

And Cole saw a good weakness when he saw one.

* * *

**NOTE(Fairly important): The dash marks "-" are missing words(though they didn't convert properly from Microsoft word. They were originally three dashes but they got reduced to one. I'll try to fix that if it becomes too interfering). Fill in the blanks anyone? XD**

**Shaking some things up here...**

**Glad all of you are liking this story! Especially since this is quite the unusual crossover. And I really like writing it =D**

**Please review :3**


	8. Decisions

Chapter 8: Decisions

Zeke looked over at his friend and saw that he was deep in thought. He had a plan. Thank goodness because he and Roger sure as hell didn't.

"What's going on in that head of yours?" Zeke asked.

"I don't have the fun parts of my powers but I do have the essentials." Cole said. "That tank somehow runs on electricity. And I'm going to drain it."

Zeke's jaw almost dropped. "Whoa-whoa-whoa, Cole. That tank'll turn you into gourmet Swiss cheese before you even get close. And how do you know that tank runs on electricity? There hasn't been electricity in years."

"If there's anything I've learned is that anything that operates on electricity, has that device attached to it. Look on the side."

Zeke was familiar with that device; Cole's words held true. Anything that operated on electricity or had electricity running through it does have that device attached somewhere on it.

"Okay, a power regulator. But you still need to get pretty close to the tank Cole. Don't bother man…this…this is a PR stunt."

Cole sighed. "What other option do we have here Z? If we run we're doing exactly what that tank wants us to do. If we stay and wait things out, I guarantee we'll be left on a cliffhanger."

Zeke raised a brow. "Meaning?"

Cole rolled his eyes. "We'll die either way Z. This way…you and Roger will at least be able to make it out of here."

"We'll be waiting for you?"

"The tank's attention will be on me. So you guys make your way to the baseball field and I'll meet y'all there."

"What?!"

"I've made up my mind Z. I'll do my best to sneak by it. That guy's too distracted with mowing down the infected to notice a little ruffle in the grass."

Zeke sighed. There was no changing this man's mind. "You got that Roger?"

"Every last detail."

"Alright, stay low and move. I'll end this."

"Be careful brother. Can't afford to lose you now."

Cole saluted at them and slowly made his to the tank. The words spoken in his dream began echoing in his head.

"_Why isn't he going down?!"_

"_He's a - you idiot! Takes a lot more to take down those freaks."_

"_He's got a fucking shield!"_

"_Fucking shield!"_

"_Shield."_

Shield.

His vision flickered to his dream, where he was currently looking behind him. There were bullets coming at him but they were deflected by a wall.

A shield.

Then his brain lurched and his vision flickered back to the present. There were a hoard of infected beside him and the tank was currently firing in his direction, trying to kill them off.

Everything slowed down as the tank began firing directly at Cole. Time then froze just as Cole lifted his hand. Small, white sparks began to slowly dance in the air. It started as just little flickers here and there in the air with no specific pattern.

Then the sparks began to spin. They spun faster and faster become brighter and taking a more blue hue. The center was clear but just that much visible if one looks hard enough.

Time returned to its normal pace and Cole stood confidently as the tank continued to fire at him.

Dreams do serve a purpose higher than scaring or confusing the crap out of you.

In Cole's hands…a shield had been formed. An impenetrable field; all that hits it just gently bounces off.

The return of the polarity shield.

Marcus, of course couldn't see that Cole indeed had a shield. All he saw was Cole with his hand stretched out in front of him, and not a single bullet reducing him to shreds.

"_What kind of black magic bull shit is this?"_

His attention was torn away from Cole when the infected, with all their combined strength began pushing at the tank. Cole knew that the bloaters were unimaginably strong. A few of them could tip over a tank easy.

Marcus climbed out of the tank and began throwing Molotovs at the Infected. He managed to get a few of them but it was to no avail. The bloaters managed to tip the tank over and on to Marcus, definitely reducing him to a bloody puddle.

"Well that didn't go as planned." Cole whispered. He couldn't manage to stick around. The Infected were currently occupied with tearing the tank apart.

But he couldn't help but linger. The power regulator on the side of the tank was still flashing. There could still be some electricity flowing through there.

It has been 23 years after all.

But should he _really _risk it?

The infected were all over the tank and despite being visually impaired, they could still draw their attention if he got too close.

"I could try to distract them…" Cole mused. He had to see how having some juice could affect things. Would things become easier, harder, or remain the same? All three scenarios have an equal possibility.

But would it really be worth the risk? In a fight where it's one man against an army of vicious and irate infected the odds were not in favor of the latter.

Cole certainly did not come back to die.

But why exactly is he back?

To see what the world would turn into without him? To show just how valuable he was and how much the world depends on him?

Endearing, but it had run deeper than that.

It just had to.

Cole stood absolutely still, completely lost in his thoughts, his brain in an all out war. One side trying to reason with the other, trying to point out the cons of unanimously proceeding with the other.

Instinct took over and brought Cole back to the situation at hand. A situation that had become dire.

A stalker, as well as several other infected had turned their attention to Cole. The stalker lunged at Cole, tackling him to the ground. It immediately went for Cole's jugular but unlike with the bloater at the Gas Works, Cole was much stronger than him. It was enough to prevent the stalker from partaking on his neck meat, but it wasn't enough to completely push it off.

By the hair, the overwhelmingly obvious qualities, and the pitch of its growling, Cole could tell that this stalker is or was a woman.

A human.

For what it was worth, Cole apologized before rearing his fist back and then sending it directly into the stalker's face. He had punched it hard enough to cause the head to immediately go to the side, the neck having no time to catch up.

With a resounding crack, Cole pushed the now limp stalker off of him. He looked down and saw a clicker on his leg, crawling up to him. With his other foot he kicked the clicker directly in its face, sending its head impossibly far back, the neck unable to process the motion.

He quickly got up and ran in the direction of where the baseball field was. Luckily there were a lot of trees of the way. Some were broken but quite a few still stood tall, withstanding the tests of time. Cole could use them to hide until the infected gave up in their pursuit.

He reached a tree and jumped up, grabbing its lowest branch. There was a branch further up that had a highly possibility of being able to support Cole's weight.

Cole sat on the tree branch waiting until the coast was clear. The clickers were still flailing their arms around, still actively pursuing its prey. The stalkers and runners ran all over the place doing the same. The bloaters blindly threw spore bombs and occasionally hit some trees.

While waiting, Cole felt a strange throbbing sensation in his left ankle. The throbbing soon turned into immense pain, then leaving Cole wondering if the gates of hell had suddenly opened right on his ankle.

He bent his leg at an angle so he could properly observe his ankle. He rolled up his pant leg to see that his ankle was bleeding. He looked closely to examine the wound. There was a very distinct mark.

Too small or abstract to be a bullet wound…

Just as the infected calmed down and spread out, realization nearly smacked Cole off the tree branch.

"Oh no. Oh no no no."

He'd been bitten.

**~I~F~T~L~O~U~**

Zeke and Roger were at the baseball diamond, waiting patiently and hopefully for Cole to emerge from the trees and grass.

"Should we have done that?" Roger asked.

"Hell if I know. Cole obviously knew what he was doing but…." Zeke trailed off. "What was it that you said back there?"

"Pardon?"

"You know, "let's feed off that optimism for a while"?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm hungry."

**~I~F~T~L~O~U~**

No one needs to know, no one can know.

Clean and disinfect it the best you can, wrap it and hope for the best.

Red doesn't show up on black.

At the first sign of craving human flesh ask to be killed. Show the bite mark, and it'll be the end of that.

But not before.

Cole recalled the conversation on how the CBI can be spread. One of two ways; being exposed to the spores or being bitten. He was also told the signs if one had come to be infected. Though that part was conveniently blurred from memory.

Perhaps he had been simply immune to the spores. Maybe his nose had developed some sort of filter that excludes anything harmful.

Now a bite mark, sending it directly into the blood stream?

Not a chance.

The bite mark unfortunately left Cole with a bad limp. With no electricity nearby for an instant heal, Cole had to depend on time and the modern advances of medicine for it to heal.

Excuses, excuses.

He tripped on a tree branch.

He tripped on a rock.

He got shot and performed insanely painful makeshift surgery to get the bullet out, then cleaned and disinfected it before wrapping it up.

That means Roger would want to take a look at it, being a former doctor and all.

No.

"_Oh you know, clicker got a hold of me and insisted that it wanted a taste."_

Absolutely not.

He tripped.

He just plain tripped.

Even the greats are susceptible to clumsiness and lack of coordination.

He emerged from the trees and tall grass and spotted Zeke and Roger waiting patiently for him on the baseball field. Roger was busy crafting materials that they could no doubt need later and Zeke was sharpening his machete.

Cole walked, well, limped towards them.

At the sounds of footsteps, both Roger and Zeke's head shot up at attention. Zeke threateningly pointed his machete at the possible intruder and Roger reached for his gun that was lying beside him. Once they realized who it was, they relaxed. First relieved that their friend had made it out alive, but then grew heavily concerned when they noticed him limping.

Cole tried his best to hide any signs that he was in pain, but couldn't help but wince with every step he took. With the force that clicker's bite, he wouldn't be surprised if there were bite marks even on his bone.

What was that bone called again?

What are the names of the bones in the leg? Starting from the thigh…

Anything to distract from the pain.

Zeke and Roger stood up, Zeke running towards his friend. Without saying a word, he grabbed Cole's arm and put it around his shoulders, Cole leaning on him for support. As much as he didn't want to.

Zeke helped Cole over to the baseball diamond and helped him sit down.

Cole fought hard to keep his face as neutral as possible, the searing pain from his ankle and the growing nervousness stemmed from Zeke's and Roger's glares making the task all the more difficult.

Cole let out a shaky breath.

"So, what happened? Why are you limping?" Roger asked.

Cole took a deep breath, mainly to help him block out the pain, but it was also to keep his heart rate down.

Was that another sign?

"Wasn't able to get close enough to the tank before the infected toppled it over and tore it apart. I tried to get away but an abstract noise gave my position away."

Omit everything having to do with the bite.

"I ran for it, the infected right on my tail. Climbed up a tree and stayed until the coast was clear."

This is coming out just a tad bit too easily.

"The tree branch couldn't hold my weight and it snapped. Landed right on this thing and felt it twist a bit."

Of course! Blame gravity and its shenanigans. Always the best way to go when in dire situations. Brilliant.

"You've got a pretty bad limp. Let me take a look." Roger moved to Cole's leg and went to roll up his pant leg.

Cole immediately pulled his leg back, the motion forcing him to stifle a pained yell and almost bringing him to tears.

"No!" Cole didn't mean to yell. Was this another sign?

Cole took another deep breath. "I mean it's fine. Turns out I still have some left over electricity in my body to heal this. By the time I realized it, the swelling had noticeably gone down a bit. I may have this limp for a while though."

Cole was only five percent sure that made sense.

"But-"

Cole put on a fake smile. "I assure you I'm fine."

Roger remained skeptical but let it go nonetheless. "Alright, but the point remains that limp is pretty bad. I don't want you moving around on that too much. Electricity or not, there's the potential to irritate the injury, especially if it was potentially a break and not just a twist."

Cole nodded his head. For a moment, he felt that we was off the hook…if it weren't for one small worrying detail.

Zeke hasn't said a word.

He looked over at Zeke and had to resist turning his head back like a shy school girl. Even with those sunglasses, he could feel Zeke staring a hole in him.

Cole met Zeke's glare (to the best of his ability) before Zeke forfeited the staring contest. Zeke then went for his machete. Cole's breath caught in his throat but then was let out in an intentional sigh of relief as Zeke placed it in the holder on his bag.

Still, without saying a word, he stood up, placing his hands on his hips. "So where to then, Roger?"

"There should be an abandoned house or two somewhere around here." Roger stood up and went to his bag, packing his stuff away.

"Lead the way. I'll look after Cole."

Zeke's calmness had thrown Cole off. He expected Zeke to be all over him but nothing. Not a single word, no reaction, he was completely stoic.

Cole looked over at Roger and found him just as skeptical at Zeke's abnormal calmness. Roger's stare practically screamed "What the fuck?"

Cole lightly shrugged his shoulders at him.

Zeke offered his hand to Cole and he grabbed it. Zeke gently pulled Cole to his feet, then flung Cole's arm around his neck and picked him up, carrying him the way a proud new husband would carry his new bride.

Wait a second.

"Uh Zeke, I'm alright with walking you know. And I don't mean to be a heartbreaker, but I only see you as a friend." Cole said with a light, joking tone.

Zeke laughed. Cole let out another sigh of relief. This was good. "Not like I haven't done this before, you ain't as heavy as you may think you are. Besides, Roger said you can't be on that ankle, doctor's orders."

"I don't recall him saying to carry me like a blushing bride."

"Learn to read between the lines brother." Zeke chuckled.

Cole smiled and rolled his eyes. Roger couldn't help but laugh himself.

**~I~F~T~L~O~U~**

The two walked for about two hours before finding a small abandoned house. It was in far better shape than any place they've encountered before. There was even a fully functioning front door.

They walked in, Roger closing and locking the door behind them. Everything was in good order. There was sure to be plenty of salvageable supplies lying about. Roger took a look around while Zeke brought Cole upstairs. Cole had fallen asleep in his arms during the trek.

For a second, Zeke began to worry but he was reassured by Cole's slow, rhythmic breathing.

He opened the door to the bedroom and gently laid Cole down, Cole immediately moving to his side.

Zeke couldn't help but smile. He stared at Cole's ankle, contemplating on removing the bandages to see if his suspicions were justified. He decided against it and moved to leave the room, closing the door behind him.

He leaned against the door, removed his sunglasses and rubbed his eyes with his thumbs before pinching the bridge of his nose, staying that way for a while. He sighed, put his sunglasses back on and walked back downstairs. He found Roger in the kitchen preparing what would be their dinner.

After Roger insisted that he wouldn't need any help (and claiming that he did not want to spoil the surprise), Zeke opted to lay down on the sofa by the window. He watched the clouds then the birds that had come into view.

The birds.

They were so free. Away from all this nonsense.

They continued to live their lives while, he, and countless others, lived a life they wished they didn't had. Going through each day, wondering if they were going to see the next. And if death managed to catch up, how they would be caught. Just how they would leave this world?

What was waiting for them in the next life?

One just never knew.

**~I~F~T~L~O~U~**

Zeke felt himself being gently shaken. He opened his eyes and found Roger standing above him with a plate in his hand. The food that was undeniably on that plate smelled divine and one hundred percent edible.

"How long have I been out?" Zeke sat up rubbing his eyes.

"Not drastically, about two and a half hours or so. Can you go get Cole? Food's ready and I don't think we'll get something like _this_ for a while."

Roger turned and placed the plate on the table, purposely leaving its contents in full view. Zeke's eyes widened and he subconsciously licked his lips. Just how long as it been?

"If you want Cole to partake then you better go wake his ass up." Roger laughed.

Zeke rubbed any remaining sleep that was in his eyes and stood up, making his way up the stairs with a grin. He walked to the bedroom and opened the door. His smile immediately dropped when he saw that Cole was no longer in the bed, but standing up. He was hunched over and muttering to himself. There was a pool of blood at his feet.

The door kept moving, slamming into the wall behind it. Cole turned around and looked at Zeke. Zeke immediately paled. That stance, that muttering, the groaning, the eyes.

Those malicious eyes.

The eyes of a killer.

The lust for human flesh.

And the lust to make their army grow…

Cole immediately ran at him, poised to attack.

Without another shot questioning it, Zeke reached from his gun and aimed it at Cole's head. He fired, putting a bullet directly between his eyes. Cole immediately fell to the ground, no further movement.

Zeke dropped his gun and fell to his knees. Breathing suddenly becoming a challenge and his eyes wide as saucers. Cole…

His suspicions were true.

He could have nipped this in the bud earlier…

But there was no avoiding this…

He wouldn't be able to live this down.

A decision was made, as brash as it was.

Roger heard the gunshots and ran upstairs with his own gun. He arrived at the bedroom and nearly threw up at the sight.

The food downstairs suddenly wasn't appealing anymore.

He saw Cole's dead body with a bullet right between his eyes. His eyes void of life.

He was obviously shot…

He found Zeke the same way, with a bullet of his own at the side of his head.

Self-inflicted.

* * *

**Um...yeah I didn't plan for this chapter this end this way *goes back to writing board* Yeah that wasn't supposed to happen. **

**I'm sorry I'm not sorry.**

**Started the spring semester, which mean updates may become less frequent. Meh xP**

**Please review and thank you for reading! Thank you all for 1K hits! =D**


	9. Abnormalities

Chapter 9: Abnormalities

* * *

**WARNING: **Graphic violence; gore & blood

* * *

Zeke's eyes flew open and looked around him frantically. Roger immediately stopped what he was doing and made his away over to Zeke.

"Zeke, what's wrong?" Roger knelt down in from of him, grabbing his face and looking into his eyes to see if anything was visibly wrong.

Zeke shook his head. "Just a dream." He muttered.

"Want to talk about it?" Roger asked softly.

"No that's alright." Zeke gently removed Roger's hands from his face and stood up. He had to see if that dream was a regular nightmare or a warning. "Dinner almost done? Smells good."

"Yeah, should be a couple more minutes. I think you and Cole will like this." Roger replied. He picked up on the slight change in Zeke's demeanor. Small, but significant.

"I'm going to uh, check up on Cole." Zeke immediately made a beeline for the stairs, leaving a slightly confused Roger behind.

He just had to see if it was just a dream or a warning.

**~I~F~T~L~O~U~**

Cole was disturbed out of his peaceful slumber by a bad feeling. The burning in his ankle had ceased but a strange sensation ripped through his body. The sensation was replaced with disorientating nausea.

He opened his eyes and felt something traveling _up_ his esophagus. Fast.

He leaned over the side of the bed and freed the contents that so desperately wanted to escape onto the floor. He wiped the side of his mouth and truly took in what he had thrown up.

Not green, not yellow but….red.

Well that's always a good sign.

Cole stood up clutching his stomach and tried to walk to the door to fetch Zeke or Roger. But he stopped halfway and turned around, perhaps opting to stay in bed instead and wait for one of them to fetch him.

He hunched over, his head throbbing and the nausea refusing to go away. Lights began to fill his vision and Cole couldn't help but grab at them.

Communication between the brain and mouth had apparently been severed as was Cole was muttering things that his brain couldn't understand.

He heard voices shouting in his head. His consciousness trying to get him back after losing him so suddenly.

Then they died out.

"Cole?"

Cole's head snapped up, his eyes wide as he turned around and spotted Zeke standing at the doorway, a concerned look on his face.

It was his friend, someone he could always trust. His brother. Stuck by him through thick and thin. His best man. They had their good times and their bad times, but still stuck together.

All precious memories.

But the only things that come into Cole's mind was bite.

Kill.

Spread.

Any would suffice.

His brain wasn't functioning else his consciousness would be chatting up a storm by now.

He lunged at Zeke, tackling him to the ground. Once he had him pinned down, Cole immediately goes for his neck, the precise place where the jugular lurked. Cole bit into Zeke's neck, causing him to release a pained scream. He fell silent as soon as Cole found what he was looking for and pulled.

It even snapped.

Cole stood up, his brain still unable to process the motions, and made his way downstairs.

"There you two are. I'm sure two will like…" Roger trailed off when he turned around. He dropped the plate he had on his hands from pure shock. He was paralyzed by the sight.

Cole was covered in blood; his face, his chest, all over his shirt, some on staining his pants and shoes.

His mouth.

Oh _god_.

Roger swallowed and took a step forward, his hands up showing that he meant peace. He cursed himself for not keeping his gun near him. He took another tentative step forward.

Perhaps if he keeps this up, he may just be able to reach his gun. It's always good to have an equalizer.

In his peripheral, Roger also spotted the knife he used to prepare the dinner. If this fails, then it'll have to be plan B.

"I can tell it's still a bit early. You're still in there somewhere. Your conscious is strong is as your resolve."

Cole began breathing heavily.

"You can fight it." Roger whispered, taking a few more steps. "So fight."

Bite.

Kill.

Spread.

It was like a mantra.

Run.

Mercy.

Spare.

Another good option.

Fight.

Return.

Grieve.

Perhaps Roger's words will hold true.

Cole grabbed his head, the voices merging together getting louder and louder. The loudest would most certainly prevail, the others quietly surrendering.

Kill.

Run.

Fight.

One other possible scenario.

Kill.

Mercy.

Spread.

That doesn't make any sense.

Spread.

Spare.

Grieve.

"_What kind of black magic bullshit..."_

When Cole looked up, he found Roger just a few paces away from his gun. He let out a menacingly growl, giving the message "I can get to you before you get to that gun."

Roger stilled, not daring to make anymore movements.

He had seen that look before when he had encountered a lion while stationed in Africa.

While standing still isn't the best of ideas, making any sudden movements when staring into the eyes of your predator isn't the best idea either.

"Okay, okay. I won't move anymore." Roger reasoned. He couldn't help but become frustrated with the situation. Not only was he still far away from his gun, he was even further away from the knife.

"Please Cole. I know you're in there still. Studies have proven that you can retain your humanity for up to 24 hours before fully succumbing to the infection."

Cole huffed.

"No use in trying to offer you food, well that would mean offering myself…"

"Don't tempt me." Cole growled out.

Roger's eyes nearly popped out of his head. Even early in this stage, the infected weren't able to form sentences, only communicating with grunts and growls.

Roger was on the verge of hyperventilating. It was one thing to deal with the infected, but dealing with one who could not only understand him but talk back accordingly?

What a time to be alive.

Roger also took note on how much Cole was rapidly changing. His skin was beginning to rot and change color; his eyes also changed a bright glowing red.

_Stage one: Runner. The weakest of the infected. But still no less dangerous and lethal._

"I don't even want to think about what you did to Zeke up there-"

"What makes you think I did anything?" Cole sneered.

"Well he would be down here with us and you are covered in…blood." Roger began to sweat and his mouth went dry.

Cole cocked his head at him.

"You're still in there somewhere Cole. I know you can fight it." He pleaded once more.

Roger wasn't used to this. By the time he encountered any infected, they were already too far down the line to attempt any type of reasoning.

Along with that, both sides were eager to kill one another.

"What do you think I'm doing?" Cole replied.

Roger looked closely and noticed that Cole's eyes weren't red but purple now. Obviously a cross between the red eyes brought by the infected and Cole's naturally blue eyes.

He's at a cross roads, both paths equally probable.

Perhaps Roger could coax him into taking the right path.

"Just kill me Roger."

"Say again?"

"Kill me Roger, or I will kill you."

"Not a chance. Zeke will give me hell in the afterlife."

"Kill me. And m-move o-on."

"No."

Cole let out an animalistic growl. Roger prayed that had not attracted the attention of any Infected that may be lurking nearby.

Or summon.

"D-do it now! I won't stop y-you."

"Now it's your turn to not tempt me."

Of course Roger didn't mean that.

"Do it!" Cole roared. Roger could swear he felt some things in the house shake, if not the whole house itself.

"No!"

Cole growled and began picking and pulling at his skin, as if it were burning. His face was beginning to become disfigured. The fungus was breaking through.

_Stage 2: Stalker._

Impossible.

It takes a runner anywhere from a few days to up to a year to reach the stalker stage.

Cole had gone through it in a matter of minutes.

How is this possible

Isn't Cole a conduit?

At this rate, Roger could be face to face with bloater in virtually no time flat.

"Cole?"

Cole's head lolled back and Roger made ready in case his friend were to fall over.

Wait, why?

It appeared for a moment that Cole was going to fall over, judging by the way he balanced himself on the balls of his feet. But his head immediately snapped forward giving a harsh stare.

A simple stare could harbor a lot of messages.

But in this case, it said four simple words.

I. Will. Kill. You.

And Roger got the message loud and clear.

Along with a sub message.

Cole is dead.

Roger immediately went for his gun but Cole was just that much faster than him. He grabbed Roger from behind by the shoulders, pushing him down to his knees and went for his neck.

A bit off target, but it will have to do.

Cole bit into Roger's neck causing him to cry out loudly. Cole dug in but just couldn't find it. He pulled away, spitting, before plunging in once more.

Why must death be so cruel and torturous?

Roger let out one final yell before falling to the ground, blood immediately pooling around him.

The air was ominous and silent, smelling of blood, death, and burnt food.

Nothing more to do but to wander around and wonder where this life will take you.

Though Cole may not be able to_ see_ where life will take him.

Life has other ways making you see your way.

**~I~F~T~L~O~U~**

Cole's eyes opened and he found himself in bed, lying on his side. The sun was just beginning to set, making the room slightly darker than it would be. He sat up, but immediately regretted the movement as a wave of dizziness came flooding in, followed by nausea.

Nausea.

Cole immediately got up and left the bedroom, making his way to the bathroom. He knelt down from the toilet and let whatever wanted to leave his body go free. He closed his eyes and held on to the toilet seat, breathing heavy.

He didn't dare open his eyes.

But he had to.

He slowly opened them and saw nothing but green with touches of yellow.

Cole couldn't have been more relieved.

He went to flush, not even sure if indoor plumbing was able to keep up with the times. He pushed down on the handle but nothing happened.

Figures.

He wiped the side of his mouth with his sleeve and stood up. When he faced the doorway, he saw Zeke standing there with his sunglasses off, an angry glare and his gun pointed directly at Cole's chest.

The pair stood that way for a moment. Cole didn't dare to make any movements. He only saw this look when Zeke was ready to kill or ready for a fight.

"Show it to me." Zeke spoke lowly.

Cole snapped back to reality. He opened his mouth to question what but he knew. He had been found out.

Cole placed his hands up, to show that he was complying and sat down, Zeke's gun following him.

He slowly rolled up his pant leg, and removed the bandaging. Once it was all removed he looked up at Zeke, telling him to take a look.

Zeke walked over, knelt down, keeping his gun pointed at him, and looked at the wound

"Oh Christ."

It wasn't as bad as it could have been. The area would usually be much redder and swollen but all that was present was the imprint of the bite mark itself. Trickles of blood still seeped out and Zeke could tell it was deep.

Zeke looked at Cole and looked him the eyes, implying that he wanted some sort of explanation.

"Look man-"

"Shut up."

Cole immediately shut his mouth.

_Standard protocol._

"Not a move."

Zeke stood up and went behind him. He had managed to swipe his scanner before coming up here. He pressed the scanner at the back of Cole's neck while pressing the barrel of his gun at Cole's head.

And the whole time, Cole remained silent and complacent.

If it meant preventing the monster that he would surely become from coming to life then so be it.

He certainly didn't come back to kill his best friend.

That lies in another reality.

He closed his eyes and after a few seconds, heard the beeping of the scanner. Moment of truth.

He opened his eyes as Zeke showed him the scanner.

Clean.

Cole couldn't see it but Zeke was smiling widely. He wanted to smile with him, laugh even.

So why did he feel sick?

He pushed Zeke to the side, went to the toilet and retched once more, this time a bit more violently.

And instead of feeling the cool barrel of the gun at his head, he felt the warm comforting hand of Zeke rubbing his back.

* * *

**Did y'all think for a second...? =3**

**(Though I will admit, it would have been an interesting turn of events. But just a bit too risky for my blood. XD)**

**This update came fast because it's a direct continuation of the previous chapter. Yay =D *disappears***

**I love it when I'm writing and the story just sort of blows up on me and develops itself. Seriously, I didn't originally plan for all of this to happen. But hey, I'm not complaining. More for the plot! =D**

**Please review :3 **


	10. White Blanket

Chapter 10: White Blanket

Cole continued to retch and dry heave until he was certain his body had given up all that it could offer. He closed the toilet lid and sat on top of it, resting his elbows on his thighs, holding his head in his hands. The nausea was gone but dizziness had taken over. He rubbed his face with his hands and felt that he was much warmer than normal, even for a conduit.

He wanted to remove his jacket but then his body began to shiver.

Zeke noticed Cole's shivering and immediately placed a hand on his forehead. Color began racing away from Cole's face.

"Roger?" Zeke yelled out. Cole had fallen limp in his arms. Zeke gently slugged him over his shoulder and carried him back to the bedroom.

"Roger, get your ass up here!" Zeke placed Cole back on the bed and waited for Roger to arrive.

Roger made his way upstairs and spotted Zeke in the bedroom, removing Cole's jacket.

"Wha-what happened?"

"Our boy's running a fever. And judging by how violently he's shivering, it's a high one."

"Come on, let's get him under the duvet." When Roger touched Cole's arm he recoiled, as if he had touched a flame.

"Hell on earth, he's burning up. At this rate, I could cook our dinner on him." Roger mused. "But what happened to him? He was doing just fine earlier."

Zeke raised a brow and removed part of the duvet that was covering Cole's left leg. He rolled up Cole's pant leg.

"That right there." Zeke pointed to the bite mark.

"What the hell is that?" Roger took two steps back.

"Exactly what you think it is. I'd say it's been a good three hours, give or take. Some people show symptoms in less than half that time. But all he's got to show for it is a hellacious fever."

"I don't understand...this can't be real."

Zeke ducked out of the room and went to the bathroom. He picked up the abandoned scanner off of the floor and brought it with him to the bedroom.

"What do you make of this then?" He tossed the scanner at Roger. Roger caught it and took a look.

Clean, nothing less.

Cole didn't show any signs of turning...yet. Some can take longer than others. But not every person bitten turns. Cole's body was different, making his scenario harder to predict.

Everything was different.

"I wouldn't call this rare, but it's certainly not an impossibility."

"Is it some form of immunity or something?"

"Maybe not so much immunity but perhaps the work of an enhanced immune system. His body is fighting the infection which would explain the burning fever. But to be frank with you I really don't have a fucking clue."

"What do we do then?"

"All we can do is help him get through that fever. He has a fever meritable enough to send him to a hospital."

"What are the orders then, doc?" Zeke asked.

"I think I spotted a river nearby here. Grab a bucket if you can and go get some cool water. Cool rags will help him get that fever down. Plus we can keep him well hydrated. The remaining water bottles we have are most likely piss warm now. Won't do him any good." Roger said.

"Alright, fresh water from the river. Got it. Anything else?"

"Not that I can think of for now. Keep an eye on him while I take care of our dinner. Once that's done, I'll keep an eye on him while you're at the river."

"You got it chief."

"Oh and Zeke?"

"Yeah?"

"Watch yourself out there. I heard some very distinct clicking earlier."

Zeke nodded and took a seat by Cole's side. Roger had stepped out of the room

"Roger?"

"What's up?"

"If our boy here starts turning, don't get trigger happy, alright?"

_"Here comes another threat..."_

"Leave that part to me." Zeke then fell silent, staring intently at Cole. Roger took that as a sign that he could leave, but could not prevent his from jaw dropping a bit.

Roger knew that he had another death threat coming his way; it comes at least once a day. Some were more gruesome and violent than the last.

But not only did that not happen, but Zeke just about suggested that if it came down to it, he would kill his best friend; his brother.

It makes sense. Sometimes having friendships, especially close ones, means being able to end them too.

Roger returned to the kitchen, glad he killed off the flame before going upstairs. His gut told him he might be there for a while and in that amount of time, the food would have burned to a crisp.

He worked to start up another flame but faint sounds caught his attention.

The sounds of groaning, moaning, and clicking.

There had to be a nest of them nearby.

**~I~F~T~L~O~U~**

After eating a scrumptious dinner, Zeke had stepped out. It's been over an hour since then and Roger had begun to worry. The river wasn't obscenely far from them, but it shouldn't be taking Zeke this long. Even if Zeke had encountered any infected, he is still a sharp man. Being able to think quickly on his feet in especially dire situations.

Roger sat by the window, watching the calm scenery, occasionally turning his attention to Cole. The sun was setting, painting the sky an in a graceful mess of pink, yellow and orange. What was once a calm and comforting breeze and had turned into a harsher one, signifying that the temperature was to take a deep nose dive was the sun had completely set.

After the outbreak, there has been a shift in the weather pattern in this area. The winters had become especially brutal and the summers unbearably searing. Early October in Texas now normally had temperatures between 40-50 degrees. But it felt more like 30-40 degrees, possibly even less. Roger wouldn't be surprised if it dipped below freezing tonight.

Roger cracked the window open, letting the harsh October breeze slip through. He hoped the cooler air could help break Cole's fever break a bit, as it increased in intensity once Zeke left. At that point, Cole was sweating profusely and shivering violently.

But once he opened the window, the sweating slowed down and the shivering ceased, showing signs of slight improvement.

When he looked back to the window, he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"The hell?"

Snowflakes; tiny and falling slowly, but falling nonetheless. It appeared to still be too warm for it to stay on the ground, melting upon contact, but if it continued on into tonight, it had the potential to stick to the ground and accumulate.

Roger continued to watch the falling snow for another hour until he heard footsteps downstairs, he had an idea of who it was, but his hand went to his gun just in case.

He heard the footsteps coming upstairs and he pulled out his gun, pointing it at the doorway.

Zeke stepped into view, still shaking off a few lingering snowflakes when he noticed the gun pointed directly it him. He smirked once Roger dropped his gun and tucking it back into its holster.

"Good call. I could have been a crazed hunter for all you knew." Zeke said.

"Can't be too careful is what I like to say."

"Good principle to hold." Zeke said, stepping into the room, placing the bucket on the ground.

"Sorry I took so long. Had to maneuver around some infected and an abnormal amount of bloaters."

"I will admit you worried me for a moment, but I knew you could hold your own." Roger responded.

"Yeah, I guess you held me to that." Zeke responded.

Roger sighed. The guilt may never end.

"Look, for whatever worth it still has, I am still really sorry. I shouldn't have listened. " Roger responded softly, turning his attention back to the falling snow, which had significantly intensified.

"I know." Zeke said.

They remained silent for a moment.

"Think it's anything significant? The snow I mean." Zeke asked, hoping to push the tension out of the room.

"Maybe about an inch, two at most. It's weird though. We normally don't get snow until about the beginning of November."

"You know, we are a bit over due for a big storm. Think this'll be the year?" Zeke walked over by the window and watched the snow fall.

"I'd like to say no, but it doesn't seem to be going in that direction."

Roger has an uncanny ability to predict the weather. He says it's something in the clouds, the air, and the stars. Zeke used to be skeptical, calling it pure luck when Roger predicted what the temperatures would be throughout the day, the rest of the week, and the entire month. He could predict a storm coming from days away. Zeke refused to believe him. Calling it pure luck

But he shut up after 2022. The year Mother Nature had come in with a white blanket and covered the south from October to December.

A groan from Cole shook the both of them out of their respective thoughts. Zeke took his bag off his back and sifted through it. He pulled out some rags he managed to salvage while fetching the water and handed them to Roger.

Roger went over to the bucket and dipped a rag in. He rang out any access water before placing the rag on Cole's forehead. Cole shivered briefly before relaxing, gratefully accepting the cold.

"We should check on him regularly. This fever could be a stubborn one."

"Should I get a fire started? Looks like this night will be ice cold. Water almost froze on my way here."

"_The temperature is well below freezing then. The snow will stick. Might have to bump it up to 1-3 inches."_

"Chief?" Zeke snapped Roger out his thoughts.

"Sorry what?"

"A fire? There's a fireplace in here." Zeke said.

"Um yeah, but not too strong. The excessive heat won't do any good for his fever."

Zeke went downstairs to salvage the firewood sitting by the fireplace in the living room.

Once he left, Roger turned his attention back to the snow, which had slowed down slightly but continued to accumulate.

"_This season could be brutal one..."_

He looked up at the sky and stared at the half moon shining in the sky. His frown deepened.

"Looks like another white blanket, temporary at most but I'll be damned if it doesn't try to smother us first."

Zeke had walked back into the room with fire wood and carefully placed them into the fire place. He placed them in a way so the flame would eat through each piece of wood one by one, not making the room overly warm but keeping it comfortable. He pulled out a match, lit it up and threw it onto the first piece of wood.

Cole groaned once more and opened his eyes. His throat was extremely dry, rendering him unable to speak up.

Zeke quickly went downstairs to find a suitable cup, the best he found was a wine glass.

"It'll have to do."

He went back upstairs dipped the glass in the cool bucket of water, filling it up with water. He helped Cole sit up and brought the glass to his mouth. Cole slowly drank the water, slightly amazed by the fact that something that could kill him was now playing a part in healing him.

The world is a funny place indeed.

"God I feel like shit." Cole muttered as he plopped back into the pillows.

Zeke laughed briefly. He placed a hand on the cloth, finding it significantly warmer. It still felt a bit cool to the touch, but it was getting much harder to feel.

He looked up at Roger to tell him how quickly Cole's ate at the cloth's immensely cold temperature but found him still staring out the window. The snow had been reduced to a sprinkle, and about an inch was sitting on the ground.

Once again, Roger called it right.

"Roger?"

"_Now definitely 3 inches. Temperatures will most be likely in the forties mid day tomorrow, should melt it significantly. Humidity 52%, wind should calm back down to a soft breeze, low of-"_

"Roger!"

"What? Sorry."

"Cole's burning through these rags fast, we need to change them regularly. We might need to work in shifts tonight." Zeke said.

"Yeah, why don't I take the first shift, you need to rest."

"You sure? You've been working pretty hard too." Zeke reasoned.

Roger closed his eyes and smiled a bit. He couldn't tell if this is a step in fixing their friendship or just a spur of the moment thing.

He preferred to go with the latter.

"I insist. I'll wake you up at dawn. We don't have anywhere to go tomorrow, so might as well take advantage and get a good amount of sleep.

"You got it chief." Zeke went over to the door and closed it before settling down on a chair.

"Comfortable enough for you? We could maneuver one of the smaller sofas downstairs up here."

"Slept on worse, but I'll let you know if it comes to that." Zeke joked.

Within moments, Zeke was fast asleep.

Roger turned to the fireplace, watching the flame eat at one of the logs. He looked back at the window and noticed the snow had stopped for the moment, but it will pick up in about an hour or so. He sighed and looked up at the sky, studying the stars and the position of the moon.

"A white blanket indeed."

* * *

Those who live in the Northeasten part of the U.S or are aware of what's going here, most likely know where the inspiration for this chapter came from XD

I meant to have this up days ago. I had about half of it written on Google Docs, occasionally adding to it when I had some free time. But school work quickly piled up. Like it always does.

But I had YET AGAIN another snow day today (not that I'm complaining mind you :D), so I had a bunch of extra time to finish it up.

This originally was going to be much longer but it would wind up going on forever. I understand that this chapter is like a dot when it comes to other works on this site, standing at 2282 words, but I just can't bring myself to make a chapter well beyond 5K words unless absolutely necessary (like if it was an introduction or concluding chapter, or it's something that I just can't split down the middle). So far, my longest chapter here is just over 4800 words.

Thanks for reading and please review! It brings me great joy that all of you are enjoying this story =D


	11. Resting Period

Chapter 11: Resting Period

The next morning, Roger was fast asleep and Zeke was up keeping watch. Good news was Cole's immense fever had let up a bit. He was still a bit warm but it wasn't warm enough to cause high concern.

Zeke also took the time to clean Cole's bite wound. Once he cleaned away the blood, all was left was the imprint of the bite mark. But this was so surreal to him. Based on what he's seen and experienced, those who were bitten normally did not last long. Other than being shot someone else, those who were bitten succumbed to the infection fairly quickly. They either turned or just died.

Yet, here Cole was. Alive. Most likely unconscious, but still breathing.

And to add to the confusion, the scanner still showed that Cole was clean. Zeke checked once more when he woke up. Initially, he got a yellow reading (what this meant he did not know, it was the first time he's seen it) but once Cole's fever broke some more, it reverted back to a green reading.

He would have to ask Roger later what a yellow reading meant. As a former military man, he had to have seen this reading at least once before.

He went over to the window and looked outside. The snow had melted quite a bit, but some still lingered on the ground. The breeze was light and the sun was shining brightly, making it feel a lot warmer than it actually may be.

Zeke stood at the window a little while longer, soon deciding to leave the room. Cole's temperature had dropped to a more reasonable number and Roger was up for the majority of the night. Like Roger said himself, there's really no where to go today.

He went downstairs thinking he could salvage anything left of Roger's dinner for breakfast, making a mental note to make sure to leave some for Cole as well.

When he was halfway down the steps, he heard footsteps. He thought it was probably his echoing but when he soon heard voices, he stopped right where he was and slowly went back up. He crouched at the top and listened closely.

"I knew I smelled something good. Hey did you check their packs? Anything good?"

"Oh yeah, these guys are loaded! Man can you tell me how long it's been since you've seen a _clean_ bottle of water?"

"Forget the bottle, how about clean water to begin with?"

They laughed.

Zeke focused his hearing to better assess the situation.

Two men inside, four more on the outside. All of them well armed; raging from machetes to molotovs to shot guns.

Zeke pulled out his magnum to check how much ammunition he had.

Five bullets. These were not good odds.

Zeke heavily contemplated waking Roger but the poor man had been up all night. Zeke found him ready to collapse when he woke up and Roger had fallen asleep in record time afterwards.

"Ahhh shit." Zeke sighed out. He remained as he was, trying to put together some sort of a plan, without unnecessarily waking Cole and Roger up.

"Did you hear about the storm that was coming?"

"Yeah, Steve said it's going to be pretty bad. Worse than the one we had in '22."

"Seriously? How so?"

"According to him, instead of it snowing whatever inches each day, it's going to be all in one go. Snowing massive amounts around once a week."

"Damn."

"He even thinks the first one we're going to get is going to match the amount we had in '22."

"So we're going to get _all_ of that in one day?"

"And then some."

"When did he say it would arrive?"

"About a week, two tops."

"Well it's a good thing we've stumbled onto this place; get a head start on gathering supplies."

Zeke made a note to ask Roger about this later. But he did not plan to ask out of pure skepticism though. It is fact that they get these types of storms every ten years or so. They are about two years overdue for one anyway.

"Come on Zeke, think." He looked around frantically to try to find a way to distract them, mentally cursing himself for leaving his bag downstairs. But he did bring something else with him. Maybe...

"Hey man, I'm going to check out the upstairs."

_Fuck._

Zeke quickly closed the bedroom door, went down the hall and hid in the second bedroom, keeping watch from the doorway. He kept his gun in his hand, finger ready on the trigger. His heart jumped when the hunter opened the door, leading him right to Cole and Roger.

He had to move fast.

Laying low, Zeke quickly and silently (the floor boards were on his side today) made his way to the bedroom. Shooting the hunter will most likely grab the attention of the one downstairs and possibly the ones outsides. He would have to be silent, but nothing less than unmerciful.

"What the-!" The hunter was unable to finish his exclamation as Zeke grabbed him from the back in an attempt to choke him out. The hunter tried to get out of Zeke's grip. The two of them struggled until they tripped and fell to the ground. Zeke eventually got the upper hand with a strong right hand. He threw more punches to further disorient the hunter, then grabbing his head and bashing it onto the edge of the dresser for good measure.

Cole hummed in his sleep, causing Zeke to turn around. Cole remained asleep and Roger seemed far too busy in the next universe to notice.

"Yo Ty! You alright up there?" Zeke heard footsteps coming up the steps and hid behind the door waiting. The hunter walked past the bedroom and Zeke made his move. He came up behind the hunter and grabbed him. Before the hunter could begin to struggle and cocked his gun right next to his head, ceasing all movement.

"You are going to shut your god damn mouth and listen." Zeke growled. The hunter unwillingly remained still and silent.

"I don't care how you do it, but you are going to get your ass and the four asses patrolling this house out of here. You are going to forget what you saw, and drop what you found and get the ever living fuck away from here. Do we have an understanding here?" Zeke punctuated his question by harshly pressing the barrel of the gun to the hunter's head, hard enough to definitely leave a mark.

"Or what asswipe?" The hunter challenged.

Zeke remained silent for a moment. "You know, my boys and I found this place. Thinking of staying here, making it our own. But we're really thinking about redecorating. Not really sure where to start. Maybe a nice paint job? How does _red_ sound to you?" He said with a disturbing calmness.

"You wouldn't." The hunter challenged once more.

"I wouldn't now?" Zeke dragged the hunter into the bedroom. "Already tried out the color in here. I'm liking it so far. Compliments the room well. "

Zeke felt the hunter's pulse double. As much as he doesn't admit it, the hunter was in full panic mode, his fear preventing the adrenaline from giving him an extra boost.

"Alright, alright just…"

"Before I let you go," Zeke tightened his grip on his neck. It restricted air flow, but not enough to completely choke him out. "I just want to make sure we're one hundred percent clear here. I have a sniper rifle stashed away up here. You are going to gather up your guys at this window and tell them there's nothing of worth here. Like I said, I don't give a fuck how you do it, just do it. If I hear anything otherwise or any hints of a plot to come back here later, boy I will not hesitate to pop one in every single one of your skulls and turn you all into mystery meat."

The hunter began hyperventilating. Boy did they choose the wrong place and person to mess with. "D-deal."

"Don't let my old age fool you now. I could tell you how many ants are stomping around in the grass outside from here. You wouldn't dare to pull a fast one on me."

The hunter nodded in understanding.

"Good!" Zeke said with a smile, letting the hunter go. "Now go. Get out of here."

The hunter nodded meekly and left the room.

One more thought crossed Zeke's mind. "Hold the phone there, buddy."

"What now?" The hunter replied. He couldn't help the attitude that slipped through but began to regret it when Zeke glared at him.

"When all is said and done, send Charlie my love." Then he waved him off.

The hunter left the room and went outside. Zeke pulled out the sniper rifle from under the bed and sat by the window.

The hunter soon appeared in front of the designated window. He looked up at the window and found Zeke kneeling there. To show he meant business, he revealed the rifle. The hunter took a deep breath and swallowed nervously.

"Hey guys! We haven't found anything of worth in here!"

The other four hunters soon joined him. "Then what was that smell then?" A hunter asked.

"Turns out it was just a burning clicker. Someone must have been desperate."

"Desperately stupid."

The hunter laughed with a hint of nervousness. "Well no use sticking around here. We should get going."

"Suppose you're right."

"Hold up. Where's Tyler?"

The hunter glanced up at the window.

"He said he spotted some infected. Went ahead to try to clear them out in case we decided to stay."

"God damn it Tyler. I specifically ordered a whistle signal if any infected were spotted. Where'd he head off too?"

Zeke recognized that voice.

Charlie.

What a lovely, fateful meeting.

Too bad it won't be consummated.

Yet.

"Towards the river."

If only they knew…

"This better not be some sort of stint. I'm not tolerating this shit a second time." Charlie growled.

If only he knew who lingered right above them.

"Tyler's reckless, but he ain't that reckless." The hunter said.

"Come on, let's move out. Keep those weapons ready."

They ran off towards the river, their demise waiting for them.

"See you later Charlie." Zeke snickered. "Maybe."

Zeke put down the gun and turned around to find Cole awake with an amused smile on his face. Roger still remained fast asleep.

"What's with that shit eating grin you got there?" Zeke said with a smile of his own.

"Mystery meat?"

"Only in times of true desperation. But I sure as hell don't recommend it and it sure as hell ain't a regular thing."

"Good to know I won't have to sleep with one eye then." Cole laughed.

"Roger might be a different story though." Zeke laughed.

Cole laughed as well, but there was a hint of concern behind it. Zeke wouldn't take things _that_ far, right?

"I trust you're feeling better?" Zeke asked.

"I still feel like I'm stuck between ridiculously warm and freezing. But I'm getting better."

"Good. There should still be some leftovers from last night. Stay put, I'll get it for you."

"Breakfast in bed? You trying to woo me?"

"Is it working?" Zeke asked with a smirk.

"Oh I don't know, where's the chocolates and flowers?"

Zeke laughed and walked out of the room.

Cole breathed through his nose and lied back down on the pillows. He looked over at Roger and still found him fast asleep, completely oblivious to what was going on.

Though what Zeke said earlier was said in a joking context, he made a note to warn Roger in the future.

One can never be too careful.

**~I~F~T~L~O~U~**

The rest of the day went without incident. They spent all day lounging about in the bedroom. In case they would have a situation like this again, Zeke retrieved all their bags downstairs and kept them near. He double checked his bag and noticed nothing was missing. He told Roger and Cole to do same and they found everything untouched and as they were.

Cole's fever completely broke and there was still no sign of the infection in his body whatsoever.

The hunters never returned, Zeke assumed they were torn apart by the infected roaming the area. It's amazing how things just worked out for them. Zeke said that he did not care how that hunter got the rest of them away nor did he hint at where he wanted them to go. He just wanted them gone. That hunter unknowingly led them to their deaths.

Well, all of them except for probably Charlie.

In the days Zeke rolled with Charlie he picked up that he had either most amazing luck or some special ability. Charlie always seemed to find a way out of any situation. His stories were legendary. Stories ranging from how he was able to blatantly walk, not sneak, but walk through a military checkpoint without a single scratch. How a clicker bit into his jugular and he lived. Sans infection as well. All he had to show for it was a nasty scar, but many dismissed it as an everyday battle scar; either from combating the military to everyday terrain.

But that's a thought for another day.

"So we're headed to San Antonio then Lubbock?" Cole asked.

"You got it. We have to be careful getting around Lubbock. It's still an active military zone." Roger responded.

"One of the few left in the country I reckon." Zeke added.

"We'll cross that bridge when it comes. We need to focus on getting to San Antonio yeah?" Cole said.

"As soon as possible."

Reminder.

"Hey Roger. I overheard those idiots saying that there may be a pretty big snow storm coming in about two weeks. Can you confirm on that?"

Roger's head perked up and thoughtfully looked out of the window. "I'll be right back." Roger stood up and left the room.

"What was that about?" Cole asked, cleaning his amp.

"Roger has an uncanny ability when it comes to weather. He can tell you what temperature it is right now, what it will be tomorrow, the rest of the week, and the rest of the month. He can detect a storm up to a week in advance and keep track of it."

"So, what he has some sort of radar or something?"

"Now that's the freaky part. He has no fancy gadgets or anything. He just observes."

Cole cocked an eyebrow in amusement. "Really? How good is he?"

"Believe me I had the same skeptical 'I call bullshit' attitude too. But I got to admit. Boy shut me up after the big snow storm of '22."

"Hmm."

"Hold on tight and he may shut you up too." Zeke smirked.

Cole smiled and rolled his eyes. "Looking forward to it." He placed his hands behind his head, closed his eyes and allowed him to explore his thoughts a bit, see what could be hiding. In almost no time at all, Cole was completely lost in his thoughts, the outside world shut out.

There was a comfortable silence in the room. Zeke watched Roger walk around outside, doing what he had to do to give them an accurate weather forecast.

These moments of calm and serenity were rare. And when they came, they were, for lack of a detailed description, simply amazing. There was no concern of staying quiet and laying low to avoid infected or wondering if any hunters were lurking about. It was one of those days where Zeke would love to sit down with Cole, and watch the world pass by over a cold beer.

If only they could return to those days.

Jackson County looked to be the only hope. Perhaps it won't be exactly like the good old golden days, but it will be close enough. Enough to alleviate their worries of wondering they'll wake up and see tomorrow.

In times like these, that was more than enough.

**~I~F~T~L~O~U~**

_"What's going on? Where am I?"_

_"Is that clicking?"_

_"Holy shit. I have to get ou-"_

_"OW! Fuck. Get off!"_

_"Wait...what does...ah shit..."_

_"Now what do I do?"_

_"Military post...guns pointed at me."_

_"And to think things couldn't get any better..."_

"Look guys, I don't want any trouble. I just want to pass through and go anywhere…that isn't here." Cole dropped to his knees and raised his hands in the air, a clear indication that he meant peace. Nothing less.

"You cannot continue on with that bite mark."

"But what the hell does this mean? I got bitten by whatever the fuck these things are! So what?!" Cole exclaimed.

"This is Richards, requesting pick up for a straggler. Possibly infected." The guard spoke into his walkie talkie.

"Scanner's malfunctioning; claims that he is not infected but there is a clear bite mark on his left hand." He was silent for a moment, listening to the response. "Remember, we promised to adhere to that 'benefit of doubt' bull shit?"

"Stay as you are." Another guard commanded, keeping his pistol pointed directly at Cole's head.

"Not like I have a choice." Cole muttered.

The guard finished talking into his walkie talkie and judging by the expression on his face, it did not signify good news, or least news Cole wanted to hear.

"Bring him in."

Another guard pressed a button and the gates opened.

The guard, known as Richards, went behind Cole and nudged at him to get up. Cole stood up on his feet, and without being told, began to walk inside.

"Something tells me that I'm not off the hook yet." Cole sneered.

"We're going to get to the bottom of that bite mark there. With a mark like that, there's no way in hell you don't have the infection. But since we decided to give anyone the benefit of the doubt, that's the only reason why you're still walking."

"Oh nice. Lucky me." Cole responded, his voice oozing with sarcasm.

Richards hit Cole in the back with the butt of his rifle. "You better watch it or I'll show you where the benefit stops."

Cole swallowed multiple sarcastic, rhetorical, pretty much any comment that would guarantee a bullet in his head.

Eventually, they led him to a recently restored hospital. They walked inside and Cole was led into a room. He was instructed to take a seat, and told the doctor will be there with him shortly.

Cole knew damn well how long "shortly" was most likely going to be.

He wondered if the thirty minute rule still applied here.

After roughly a twenty five minute wait, the doctor stepped into the room. He wore a dark blue military jacket with a white undershirt, black jeans, and boots.

He had slightly tanned clear skin, save for a few noticeable scars, particularly a nasty looking one on his right cheek and one on the top of his lip. He appeared to be fairly young, possibly around the same age as Cole give or take one or more years. He appeared to be about an inch or two shorter than Cole, had a fair build, and his round face was well complimented short spiked brown hair and piercing green eyes.

"State your name for the record." The doctor said with a slight southern drawl to his words.

"Does it matter?" Cole asked.

"It's for the record." The doctor repeated.

"What fucking record, man? The obituaries?"

"Watch your tone with me. Now your name?"

Cole rolled his eyes. "Chris Mason."

"Try again."

Cole's face scrunched up in confusion. "What? I gave you a name."

"And it's obviously not yours." The doctor replied. "Now give me your real name."

Cole rolled his eyes. "Jason youdontneedtoknowthefuckingrest." Cole responded.

The doctor sighed. "I don't know why you're being so difficult with me."

"Because no one wants to tell me what the fuck is going on! Ever since all of this went down out three years ago, I have just been state hopping without rest. No explanation either."

"Fair enough, err, Jason. For the sake of conversation, what states have you been to?" The doctor stepped away from Cole and went to a drawer, pulling out rubbing alcohol, cotton balls, a needle, and a small vial.

"I started from Louisiana, went to Mississippi, spent most of my time in Florida, then Georgia, Tennessee…pretty much stuck to the south east." Cole responded.

"What brings you to Kansas? Seems a bit far from your path." The doctor wrapped a tourniquet around Cole's left arm and began feeling out for a vein.

"I was rolling with a crew in Missouri, but we got ambushed by these people, these vicious people. Forgot what they were called. I managed to escape and just kept running. And I guess you could fill in the blanks there."

"Do you plan to stay here?" The doctor found a vein and disinfected the area before reaching for the needle.

"I'm going to assume that's up to your guys' discretion, not mine." Cole slightly winced as the doctor stuck the needle in. He chose to glance around the room then returning his attention back to the doctor. A light from the window that reflected off the doctor's silver necklace caught Cole's eye. Upon closer inspection he noticed there was an interesting pattern carved into the center of the pendant.

"Nice necklace. What's that carved into the pendant?"

The doctor roughly yanked the needle out of Cole's arm causing him to cry out. The doctor immediately reached for a band aid and tore it open. He placed a small piece of cotton ball over the wound before then securely placing the band aid on top of it.

"Alright, this will take no time at all. I'll be right back." The doctor grabbed the vial and made his way out of the room.

"Oh if I come back in here with a gun, I don't think I need I need to tell you the good news there."

Cole rolled his eyes and rubbed at the band aid, the wound throbbing.

After ten minutes, the doctor returned with a pistol in his hand.

Oh boy.

He walked up in front of Cole and looked into his eyes, his expression rigid and serious. There was an odd silence in the room. He then began waving the pistol around.

"In the case of Jason, Jason, you are NOT infected." The doctor said with a smile.

It took all of Cole's strength, and then some, to stop himself from groaning and face palming. But, he settled for an amused chuckle.

"So what's with the pistol then doc?"

"Doesn't hurt to have a bit of insurance here, partner." The doctor winked and placed the pistol in Cole's lap.

Cole took the pistol and examined it. It was simple enough; fully loaded, standard fire speed, average storage for a fair amount of bullets, good reload time.

"Just make sure no one finds that on you. And if they do, don't mention my name."

"It would be kind of hard to mention it if I don't know it." Cole stood up and tucked the gun in his bag.

"How about a deal then; I'll tell you mine and you tell me yours."

Cole sighed. Guess there was no avoiding this. "Fine by me."

"Alright; Chris Mason, nice to meet you."

Cole scoffed, then laughed. "You're shitting me."

"I suspected as such." The doctor grabbed his pendant and flashed it at Cole.

_Chris Mason _

_000008_

"Proof enough for you?" Chris said with a smirk.

"I guess there's no denying that. But I am giving you the benefit of the doubt here. You could have swiped that from anyone."

"Touché. But I assure you, there's no deception here."

"Fine, I'll play along."

Chris grinned. "Now yours."

Cole sighed and braced himself. "Cole MacGrath."

"I knew it." Chris said.

"So you just wanted to toy with me?"

"I enjoy the thrill it gives me." Chris stepped forward, gently grabbed Cole' left arm and removed the band aid. After clearing out the majority of the blood with the cotton ball, he noticed that he left a much larger wound than intended. All because of his paranoia.

"Here, let me clean this off for you real quick. Sorry about that." Chris went grabbed the rubbing alcohol and another cotton ball He poured the alcohol on the cotton ball and gently began cleaning the wound. In harshly pulling out the needle, Chris had managed to pull off a significant amount of skin as well.

Once he was done, he grabbed another band aid and placed it over the wound. He then went to work on his hand. He went to the drawer and found some medical tape. He a cotton ball, dipped it in the alcohol and cleaned the wound, needing a second one to finish up. Finally he wrapped the medical tape around Cole's hand.

"There we are. Might be a bit stiff and painful for a while. I'll see if I can't get my hands on pain killers later."

"You didn't need to do that, but thanks anyway."

"Anytime. Now if you plan to stay here, you need to register your name into the system so you can have legal residence in this area. We unfortunately run a tighter ship than any other quarantine zones. Though I should warn you, the name Cole MacGrath is not going to go unnoticed."

Obvious.

"So, we're sticking with Jason here?" Cole asked.

"To be honest, you don't look too much like a Jason. How do you feel about Nick? Nick Colton?"

Cole pondered it for a moment. Feels like a suitable substitute. "Yeah, I think I can work with that." Cole smiled.

"Then it's finalized. I'm sure they'll be find with you staying at my place. It's pretty big so you won't take up much space."

"Better than state hopping man."

"Alright, come on then. I'll take you to the building." Chris said with a smile.

**~I~F~T~L~O~U~**

Cole's eyes re opened and found himself back in bed. Not where he was before in...Kansas…?

_"That was way too elaborate to be a dream..."_

"You alright man? Lost you there for a few hours." Zeke was sitting by the fireplace, in the middle of crafting a shiv.

"Yeah." Cole grabbed his head and rubbed it, trying to ward off the faint hint of a headache. "Yeah, I'm fine. Must have been more tired than I thought I was."

"Not a problem brother. Like Roger said, there was no rush today. No harm in kicking back for a while."

"Speaking of which, where is he?"

"He went into the woods a while ago to try to fetch us some dinner. He got some pretty good game there yesterday so he's trying two for two."

Cole sat up and leaned against the headboard, his heart suddenly feeling heavy. He clutched his chest and it soon became a bit difficult to breathe.

"You alright?" Zeke asked. He stood up and walked over to the bed sitting at the edge. He placed his palm on Cole's forehead. He didn't feel warm.

"Yeah, yeah." Cole gently removed Zeke's hand from his forehead. "You got any water left in there?"

Zeke went to the bucket to check. The bucket was still ¼ full. He grabbed the glass from the nightstand and poured the water in, filling it to the top. He handed it to Cole and Cole took it, nodding his head in thanks. He quickly drank the water and placed the glass back on the stand.

"By the way, what did Roger say about the storm?"

"He ain't too sure about it yet. He's definite of the fact that a big one is coming, but he's a little fuzzy on when exactly it'll arrive."

"Think we'll be fine in here?"

"He'd rather us be in San Antonio than here. As glamorous is this place is, it won't last. San Antonio used to be a very polished military zone. We'll have better chances there."

"But if Roger isn't sure when this storm is coming, then we'll really have to haul ass to get over there, huh?"

"Welcome to the great race, brother."

* * *

Just a few quick words about this series:

Since I'm getting this question a lot, here you go: I don't plan for the characters of inFAMOUS (mainly Cole) to cross paths with Joel and/or Ellie for a while. First off, Joel and Ellie are in Jackson County (Wyoming) and we are still in Texas. It would be kind of weird to find them that far south at this point. But I do plan for Joel and Cole to cross paths, but just in a different way. It has something to do with the past. I can definitely confirm that it's coming fairly soon so please stay tuned! =D

As for Cole and Ellie, that is still much further down the line, more towards the end.

**BUT** nothing is really definite. The plans I had prior to really diving into this story have changed significantly.

Secondly, the way this crossover works is that while some scenes are original with TLOU elements, there will be several nods towards any significant events that have already happened in TLOU.

The ending scene in Ch.8 was based off the scene with Sam and Henry (yes that one ;_; ). So if down the line, something seems familiar, that's why =)

That whole section, Cole's "dream", that is a nod in the works. =)

Thank you all for reading, favoriting and alerting. I was delighted to see some new people =) Please leave a review :3


	12. San Antonio Rush

Chapter 12: San Antonio Rush

**Brief A/N:** I know I haven't really been imputing dates lately so it can become confusing at times. I even lost track XD. But like in the game itself, the dates are never really stated and it's up to us to figure out what month it could possibly be with the exact dates completely at our discretion. But I will from time to time put in dates just for the sake of things =)

Now on to the story =D

* * *

The trio walked to the nearest town which was Pleasanton, Texas. The journey took just a bit over a day, with regular breaks in between.

With the threat of an incoming storm, Roger instructed that they keep a sharp eye out for supplies. Leave no door unopened, no drawer closed, no shelf full, and so on.

The essentials: non perishable food, medicine, med kits, basic crafting supplies, and clothes, if possible.

Pleasanton was fairly small so the three of them agreed to split up to cover more ground and meet up at the outskirts once everything was swept out.

It was rare for a seemingly quiet town to be what it was, quiet. Usually in every seemingly abandoned town or city, there was bound for a surprise waiting to pop out. These surprises usually ranged from infected to hunters to military men and sometimes a combination of all three.

But there was nothing. Not a sign of anything anywhere.

There vast amount of ammunition left behind should have been a strong indicator of potential things to come or what once was.

Nothing.

There wasn't even a spore in the air.

Nothing but dead silence.

Not a single corpse anywhere.

It was comforting, but alarming.

**~I~F~T~L~O~U~**

_October 10__th__, 2034_

An additional fourteen hour walk finally brought the trio to San Antonio, Texas. The abandoned military quarantine zone. They easily made their way around the gates and entered the abandoned city. Unlike Pleasanton, San Antonio was significantly larger. Splitting up to cover more ground would not be wise. Who knew who or _what_ could be lurking about? They got lucky in Pleasanton and as the harsh truth goes, luck is always bound to run out.

They spent the day walking up and down the streets of San Antonio scavenging for supplies as well as for a suitable place for shelter. But the race against time had intensified.

Due to the sudden shift in the air (one that he just could not explain), Roger was unfortunately able to confirm that the snow storm is coming earlier than initially predicted; as early as the end of this week.

They were working furiously against time and Mother Nature; two very formidable foes, even more so than the infected and the hunters combined.

Speaking of, along the way they encountered a quite a handful of infected, mainly runners.

But this was still a problem of high concern.

Being at the stage of runners meant that they were most likely turned fairly recently.

By something.

There were heavy amounts of spores in certain parts of the city (Roger and Zeke had their gas masks but Cole seemed to be impervious to the spores.), due to the rotting bodies of the infected continuing on in the next life.

They needed to choose their shelter carefully or they may not live to see end of this powerful snow storm.

After checking out various households and buildings, ranging from business buildings to schools, they stumbled upon the San Antonio International Airport. Seemed quiet enough, no spores polluting the air.

Roger and Zeke opted to explore the inside of the airport while Cole remained outside and explored the planes. Most of them were shut tightly, but there was one with the door slightly ajar. With a jump, Cole was able to grab onto the edge of the doorway and climbed his way inside. Once inside, Cole turned on his flashlight and was mortified by the sight. Not only were there dead infected (emitting small amounts of spores), there were dead people who were not infected, all of them decorated with bullets. He was about to question how, but he upon closer inspection, he found that the military were among the dead as well.

"Figures" Cole muttered.

He shined his flashlight to the left and right to make sure there wasn't anything "resting" nearby. He found nothing and walked in to explore the plane. Leave no place unchecked after all. He made his way to the cockpit first. It took a bit a force to open the door, but it eventually budged open.

What was inside the cockpit was the very definition of grotesque.

One of the pilots, his head had been blown clean off, only leaving behind everything from the neck down slumped over the chair.

The other, possibly the co-pilot, had a bullet lodged in his neck. Judging by the state of shock still present on his face, it wasn't a quick death.

"Fucking hell…"

Cole surveyed the area and found a bottle of pills by the controls. He picked them up and examined them, looking first for the expiration date. By chance, he didn't find one but it could be encrypted somewhere on it. He stashed it away in his bag and found another bottle on the floor. He picked it up and examined it.

Lid free and empty.

He looked back over at the headless pilot.

Cole quickly tried to put two and two together.

He remorsefully shook his head and put the let the bottle fall. He left the cockpit to explore the rest of the plane. He kept a watchful eye on the bodies, slightly wary that one of them could possibly come to life.

What Roger said to him earlier echoed in his mind.

"_If you can, try to salvage clothing, if possible."_

Well now's as good a time as any.

"_Doesn't matter the state, we'll find a way to wash them. There's always a way."_

Cole looked closely at the bodies to find anything that would be close to decent.

He grabbed a few scarves and shoes, but not much more. But another light bulb went off in his head.

Carry on luggage.

He immediately went to the overhead storage and pried them open. Most of them had been rusted shut and required the sacrifice of a few shivs. But it was worth it.

As Cole went through each of them, his smile grew wider and wider. He pulled out endless amounts of bags and suitcases and gently tossed them out of the plane, to salvage at a later time. He made a note to try to find a way to get to the luggage that had to be tucked away on the bottom of the plane.

Maybe on the other planes too.

Once he was sure the overheads were clear Cole continued to search the rest of the plane until he reached the very back. He opened the door of the bathroom and encountered yet another gruesome sight. A well dressed man, rotting away, most of his skeletal system present. For some reason, the stench of death in the bathroom was much more prominent than the rest of the plane.

He stepped inside and on the sink, he found some cloths, rubbing alcohol, and another bottle of pills. This was fairly full, but it was far beyond its expiration date.

_September 2014_

Nonetheless, Cole tucked it away into his bag. Perhaps Roger could find his way around this.

"_There's no such thing as expired medicine…"_

Cole knelt down in front of the man to try to find a cause of death. Though, he did not find any bullet wound or a possible bite mark. There was a bit of blood, but no sign of an extreme loss. Underneath the withering corpse's hand was a sheet of paper. A note.

Cole cracked his neck and grabbed the corpse's hand and picked it up to retrieve the note. He did this cautiously, still wary of the ever so slight possibility of the corpse coming to life.

Once he freed the note, he stood up, adjusted his flashlight and read it.

_I don't know who might even find this. Hell, it'd be a miracle if someone did._

_But whoever does, I'm guessing you might want an explanation of what the hell happened here. I would imagine it would come to be quite the sight._

_We tried to escape. The infection spread rampant in Texas and the rest of the country. This was a flight scheduled to go to San Francisco but the infection was even worse there. We opted to go anywhere, anywhere that wasn't here. I heard a few dropped suggestions of Great Britain or even Italy. Somewhere European. It wasn't clear, but what was clear was that we were to stay in the air for a long time before a clear decision was made and clearance was given._

_I'm using the word clear too much, I apologize. Not enough time to proof-read and better articulate my words. My English professor is either amused or rolling in her grave. God bless her…_

_While we were piling onto the plane, a hoard of infected managed to slip through. They got onto to the plane and all hell broke loose._

_I got out of my seat and barricaded myself in the bathroom. Where else was I supposed to go? The window could not fit my girth and the door…well now that I think about it; perhaps I should have tried the door. At least one of us should have._

_I can hear the groaning, the moaning, the screams, the crying. Dozens of lives being brought to a painful end. And I sit here on this pristine first class toilet, writing this note. Not sure why. One of those social norms? Isn't that what people do? Leave a note?_

_Somewhere along the line, I heard the military come through. There were several gun shots that rung out._

_But not one of them thought to check the bathroom._

_I didn't know if I should have felt relieved or terrified. But no matter what, I would have found some means of escape, one gruesome way or another._

_Then it was quiet. It was a sort of…insanity quiet. I don't know how long I sat in here. Could have been hours, maybe even days. I eventually decided to press my luck and open the door. It was dark and quiet. Only things I could hear were the chaos rumbling in the distance, in the far, far distance._

_My first breath had set the timer for my last. The stench of death filled my lungs and began burning and eating away at them. My eyes watered either from pain or sudden realization that now I was working on a timer. I felt my sanity beginning to slip as I clawed at the air, desperately trying to find the proper molecule that solely exists to give life._

_But that molecule had been…dismantled, changed? I don't know the proper terminology; chemistry was never my strong suit._

_So I return to the bathroom to finish this note and wallow in my final moments to wonder; how have we gotten here, so fast? It seemed like only yesterday that everything was…normal. What caused this? Will there ever be…change? A reversion, a reboot?_

_I fear that I may never know. At least in this life time._

_But to whoever manages to find this, please find out for me, if you can._

_And if you do, I'm dying (sorry for the ill timed pun) to know._

_But there's no rush._

_When and if you get here…wherever I'm going…_

_Ask for James._

_I'll be the chap sitting on a pristine toilet downing tea, writing the novel I always wanted to write._

_I'll leave my photo attached. It's a bit outdated_

The last sentence appeared to have been cut off. Cole assumed he must have succumbed to the infection at that point.

"Back in New Marais, I always thought the worst thing that could happen to people was the militia, those swamp freaks, the Beast. Even the plague. But now…now that all seems like child play compared to this. I always wondered when people would ever catch a break." Cole sighed. "But now I see…the only way you can ever catch a break is trying to find a place like Jackson County…or dying. And one seems more plausible than the other."

Cole sighed heavily and left the bathroom. Since there was nothing left to do or look for, he stepped out of the plane with a heavy heart.

He spotted Zeke and Roger headed towards him, hopefully with good news.

They could use some at this point.

"Okay, some good news." Roger started. "The inside is pretty habitable. No signs of infected on the side we were on. We didn't really scope out the rest of the airport yet, but it's looking pretty good so far.

"Damn brother, looks like you hit the jackpot there." Zeke gestured at the piles of bags and suitcases.

"Yeah, this plane behind me was about to leave before…well shit hit the fan. I was thinking we could try get into the bottom of the plane, and maybe the others, and find more supplies."

Roger looked at the plane Cole was pointing at and gasped, looking as if he saw a ghost.

A ghost of the past?

"Well if we're sticking to this place, I'm down with that." Zeke responded.

"Oh my god." Roger whispered. "_Flight 726, October 1__st__, 2013."_

"You alright there, Roger?" Cole caught the haunted look in Roger's eyes.

Why would he…?

_Oh._

Ex-military…

Cole immediately looked at Zeke. He seemed oblivious to the ordeal but his curiosity was steadily rising.

"So, uh," Cole tried to stifle the rising awkwardness. "Why don't we grab these bags and get them inside since we're sticking around?"

"Good idea, very good idea. Let's do that…" Roger broke out of his trance and went over to the pile of bags. He picked up more than he could comfortably manage but he was too distraught to care.

"_All those people…"_ He fought to hold back tears.

"What was that about?" Zeke asked.

"Ah, don't worry about it. That was probably some sort of trigger or something." Cole responded.

Zeke remained skeptical, but decided to drop the subject for now.

They both went over to the bags and picked up what they could carry and made their way into the airport.

Roger distanced himself from the group as he rummaged through the bags and suitcases. Once he was sure Zeke wasn't paying much attention, Cole grabbed the suitcase he was sifting through and moved closer to Roger.

"Quite a sight in that plane. Saw quite a bit of…military guys in there." Cole began. "Any chance you were involved in that?"

"Straight to the point I see." Roger muttered, then sighing. "I was given direct orders, Cole. I didn't have any more strikes with them because at that point, there was no such thing as an honorable or even dishonorable discharge. Well, you could call it that, if you consider getting your head blown off to be."

"I feel like there's a "but" here."

"There is." Roger responded. "After shooting the co-pilot in the neck, I couldn't do it. I bolted right out of that plane, running as a dead man walking. They caught me after a day, but because I was valuable as a doctor, I wasn't killed for going AWOL. I only killed one man in that whole ordeal but the guilt was immense. I felt responsible for the rest. Countless others were slaughtered, by the deemed "heroes of this country." What a load."

"I feel like I've heard that before…" Cole pondered. But _where_? It wasn't just a passing feeling.

"Found this note. Turns out you guys missed a guy hiding out in the bathroom." Cole reached into his pocket and pulled out the note, handing it to Roger.

"As you could probably imagine, he didn't manage to make it out of there with his life."

Roger read over the note, his jaw dropping several times, especially towards the end. He had never seen anyone die in such…good humor? Could it be called that?

"Fuck." Roger muttered, wiping his eyes, and handing the note back to Cole. Cole stashed it away in his bag for future reference.

"Yo Roger!" Zeke called out, slightly suspicious as to why he and Cole had suddenly become so hush-hush. "We got some snowflakes."

Roger's head snapped up and looked towards the windows. There were indeed snowflakes falling, but very lightly.

"No need to worry yet, this is just a preview of what is to come. But because this preview has come a bit too soon, we may be running out of time."

"What else do we need?" Cole asked.

"The item I feared the most we'd have trouble with was clothing, but we are doing fine in that department. I would like to have a bit more raw material for supplies, but like I said, we haven't completely scavenged the entirety of this airport so that problem may fix itself soon enough. However, I would prefer that we have a bit more food."

"I didn't find any on the plane." Cole said. "I managed to find two bottles of pills though."

"Zeke and I found a hoard of medicine and quite a bit of first aid kits. We managed to some find non-perishable food and bottled water, but it's not much to go on."

"What'd you manage?"

"Some canned meats, canned pasta, and some cereal and granola bars. It's not much to go on and I still can't tell how long we could be holed up in here."

"I found some peanut butter tucked away in one of the carry-ons." Zeke added.

"The carry-ons, yes of course. They could have food tucked away in them as well." Roger's voice was noticeably shaking.

"You alright there, Roger?" Zeke asked.

"I'm fine." Roger responded, but a bit too quickly.

Awkwardness had quickly found its niche in the airport.

**~I~F~T~L~O~U~**

Cole and Zeke opted to check out the rest of the airport while Roger stepped outside to give them an absolute answer of what will happen with this snow storm. While that was one of the reasons he wanted to step outside, he wanted to take a look inside the plane, to survey the carnage that he played just a big a role as everyone else.

He jumped and pulled himself into the plane. He quickly put on his gas mask; there wasn't too many spores floating in the air but prolonged exposure could produce a negative reaction.

Just as he suspected, there were bodies everywhere, all of them rotting away. A vast majority of them were innocents, just trying to find a means of escape.

But there was never any escape. No. Before Jackson County showed up, the only escape was death. The only thing that kept him together was the fact that these people managed to leave before things really got bad.

It was out of place, but Roger couldn't help but utter a, "You're welcome." before leaving the plane.

The light snow was falling steadily with a bit of wind accompanying it. It wouldn't be a significant snow fall, probably dropping a grand total of two inches with most of it melting away tomorrow. It was a definite preview of what was imminently to come. The snow storms in 2012 and 2022 started exactly like this; slow and graceful before turning into a merciless whirlwind of snow, wind, and ice.

But Roger got the bad feeling that this storm would out do them both.

If not this whole season.

* * *

This chapter came a lot sooner than I expected. Good thing because college work is being a b-word now and really picking up.

This chapter also went in a completely different direction than I planned. What else is new LOL.

A lot more description than dialogue, weird XD

Next chapter should definitely be the the arrival of this monster snow storm. Along with that, the return of an old friend =D

Thanks for reading, it brings me great joy that you all are enjoying this story! Feel free to voice your opinions & don't be afraid to ask questions! (other than "When will Joel and Ellie come in?", refer to previous chapter please) =)


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